Breaking: According to this diary at DKos, the Army reported last night that two of the soldiers killed in a recent accident in Iraq were two of the authors of the New York Times op ed, The War As We Saw It. They deserve to have us read again what they wrote. An excerpt:
In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, ”We need security, not free food.”
In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.
————
It was only a matter of time before the Senators’ questioning of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker would reveal that the emperors had no clothes. No, not Petraeus or Crocker — they were only the embarrassed witnesses to that fact. The naked emperors are Bush/Cheney. And all it took was the simplest of questions to expose them:
From Senator Feingold:
FEINGOLD: Do you believe the United States is providing sufficient resources to the threat posed by al Qaeda in [the Afghanistan/Pakistan regions]? . . . Which is more important to defeating al Qaeda, — the situation in Pakistan or in Iraq?
CROKER [evades the question].
PETRAEUS: I am not in a position to comment on resources committed [to other areas].
FEINGOLD: When will the level of US troop deaths begin to decline?
PETRAEUS: Admiral Fallon would be the one to address that.
From Senator Warner:
WARNER: . . . Are you able to say at this time, if we continue what you have laid before the Congress, this strategy, that if you continue, you are making America safer?
PETRAEUS: Sir, I believe that this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objections in Iraq.
WARNER: Does that make America safer?
PETRAEUS: Sir, I don’t know actually. I have not sat down and sorted out in my own mind. What I have focused on and been riveted on is how to accomplish the mission of the Multinational Force in Iraq.
The White House has been hiding behind Petraeus and Crocker for weeks, but the two witnesses just dumped the ultimate question — what are we doing there? — in the laps of George Bush and Dick Cheney. But don’t expect the cowardly emperors in the White House to show up with a credible answer. They’ll just claim that anyone who even asks the questions doesn’t support the troops.
Extra: There were five Presidential candidates on hand to ask questions. Senator Clinton’s opening statement provided a worthwhile summary. And here’s KO’s extended report from Countdown.
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Good Morning, Scarecrow!
i liked moveon’s betrayus ad.
wow! uno?
Caw, caw!
Good morning Scarecrow.
I expected something yesterday… don’t know what, but I didn’t get it.
Today I just feel sad.
But coffee is almost ready.
Sad, very sad, about the two troops from the 82nd.
Selise@2
Me too, does that make us radical Moveondotorg people who have besmirched the General’s good name? btw, the Congress is just, oh, so upset at us! But don’t get overly concerned, they don’t have a veto proof majority, so nothing will come of it.
i watched or listened to most of the three hearings… extremely depressing. on the plus side, the protesters were great (and i hope rev. yeargood’s broken leg will be ok), i love glenn/jane/matt’s video and webpage and moveon’s ad.
I have been playing the “Whole World’s watching” a lot from the “Chicago Transit Authority” album lately. I think those times are back again.
Petraeus: I’m a soldier. I follow orders to the best of my ability. I don’t make policy. I have no conscience or well-developed sense of right and wrong.
some more news this morning:
President Vladimir Putin dissolved the Russian government Wednesday
UN nuclear chief walks out on EU speech on Iran: diplomats
I agree scarecrow. Hiding behind the limited brief(I only do Iraq) is bull. Get Fallon and Pace there since Bush Cheney do have no clothes.
Very depressing Kabuki as we look onward to more death and destruction through refusal to admit defeat.
Didn’t see the whole thing. Obama was good.
But here’s what really pisses me off to no end. I’ve been simmering all week but now I’m livid.
When Da Surge was announced, it was because people were fed up with the then-current policy (such as it was). The idea was to give the Iraqi’s a chance to get their shit together. So in announcing Da Surge and trying to drum up support for it, Bush said: “To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq’s provinces by November.”
You know? They stand up and we stand down. In November. Now we’re told that ain’t gonna happen. No shit. So where are we-or where will we be in a few months? Exactly where we were before Da Surge was announced. With one very disheartening difference. Before Da Surge, everythingwas going to shit and Bush was getting creamed, hence the need for the new policy. Now, we’re gonna be right back where we were but this time Bush is getting crediit for stabalizing Iraq and beginning to drawdown troops. AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!
The American people really do want an end to this terrible bullshit. There’s no draft so you won’t find so many young people and their parents demanding an end to this war as with Vietnam. Who’s gonna force the change? The end of this war? Maybe when history is written, they’ll say the leftie blogs ended this war – or at least were very instrumental.
Man, yesterday was so depressing. I was surprised how shitty I felt 6 years later.
Selise,
Do you have the hearings schedule for today? Thanks for your help.
selise @ 8
morning all — great summary, chs!
selise — if you liked those, then i’d be
honored to get your reaction to
my latest “nightly nolo” — on the
eerie similarity between yesterday’s
testimony, and that of gen. william
westmoreland in april 1967 — on vietnam.
do take a look — it is only
about two-and-a-half minutes long.
no clothes indeed.
p e a c e
Jonathan @ 10
Sounds as though he’d make a good repub candidate for vp.
Jonathan @ 10
exactly.
i have a ton of sympathy for the grunts who have been put in a horrible position. the generals, on the other hand, get no slack from me.
btw, excellent analysis of petraeus’s role in the creation of the civil war in iraq on democracy now! this morning.
egregious @ 14
here. scroll down to wednesday.
JPL @ 16
He’s rumored to be Pres candidate in 2012.
Good morning everyone. Does the link to the NYT op ed work for those without Times Select. I can’t tell, cause I have it.
Scarecrow @ 20
nope – gotta have the subscription
Morning everyone!
that’s such sad news about the soldiers, those are some powerful words they wrote.
Ian Welsh at The Agonist has a post on various rumors wrt to bombing Iran.
Scarecrow @ 20
no, doesn’t work.
scarecrow – would you be willing to use the nyt weblog link generator? it creates a link that won’t go dead when the article goes into the archive.
Scarecrow, Brilliant piece.
The sad part is, that it does not seem that we are going to get any meaningful legislation passed on Iraq. Pelosi seems very disorganized and Reid rather than focus on doing the right thing by trying to end the war, is busy being acting as a DLC crowd pleaser. Maybe if the echos for new leadership gets loud enough, we may well get a grown up solution to this war problem.
one more “dodge and punt” show
still to go — but the press
club MAY ask some good q’s:
Amb. Ryan C. Crocker, Gen.
David H. Petraeus Press Conference,
Nat’l Press Club
On C-SPAN3 at 9am ET. . .
selise @ 11
We should be very alert to what’s going on in Russia. Putin met with Bush in Maine in July and I’m sure the talk at one point hit on how do you stay in office when your term is constitutionally limited?
I don’t know what to say about the troops from Iraq/ I have some thoughts….how many guys were on that truck? Where was it headed? Were they with their normal squads and unit? What was the extent of injuries to the other troops on the vehicle? Where were they sitting when the vehicle rolled over? Were autopsies conducted on the bodies? Have their personal effects been safeguarded including any known writings? Who was driving and what is his record like?
So hard to think and accept that even though roll overs do occur this is really an accident.
I’ve become completely cynical.
I gotta go run for awhile.
On the two soldiers from the NYT article who were recently killed:
Hopefully one day, those who financed their deaths — those who passed the supplemental — will no longer be able to evade what they’ve done.
OldCoastie @ 21
Try this link.
The “Surge” was thought up by Fred Kagan and his fellow AEI chickenhawks. It’s purpose was ALWAYS to kick the can down the road for another Friedman Unit or two, no matter what the cost.
“Accident”
NYT link from August 19 referenced by Scarecrow
[snip]
The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere. What soldiers call the ”battle space” remains the same, with changes only at the margins. It is crowded with actors who do not fit neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen, criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the questionable loyalties and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers’ expense.
A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families.
[snip]
In short, we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear. (In the course of writing this article, this fact became all too clear: one of us, Staff Sergeant Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head during a ”time-sensitive target acquisition mission” on Aug. 12; he is expected to survive and is being flown to a military hospital in the United States.) While we have the will and the resources to fight in this context, we are effectively hamstrung because realities on the ground require measures we will always refuse — namely, the widespread use of lethal and brutal force.
[snip]
At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. ”Lucky” Iraqis live in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls that provide them with a sense of communal claustrophobia rather than any sense of security we would consider normal.
In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, ”We need security, not free food.”
[snip]
selise @ 26
Thanks, you may have to walk me through it then next time we get together.
Scarecrow @ 29
thanks! that one works nicely.
Scarecrow @ 20
Do you mean marion’s link? That is her blog where she posts the op-eds.
The surge is working well because 81% of available funds committed to the 75% of the policies we have implemented are proactive 62% of the time in 53% of the provinces mentioned where a full 44% of fatalities have reduced during the time period mentioned and 33% of our troops can be withdrawn after 24 months during which we assume 16% of the captured insurgents will choose to cooperate reducing our fatalities by 11% not to mention meeting 6 of the promised benchmarks.
sorry for early OT – Powerful earthquake rocks Indonesia
Reports on damage were sketchy although Global TV reported that several buildings collapsed in Padang, located in West Sumatra…
raven @ 35
Marion
now on democracy now! – analysis on the pentagon’s missing $9 billion. it’s worse than i thought… the CPA, bremer look very, very dirty. wow.
nolo – will do, as soon as DN! is over.
scarecrow – it’s easy (once you know what to do), i can walk you through it over the phone.
An accident? More cruel and unnecessary deaths in a war of choice.
Hope their deaths will be investigated….chilling words. The military must fear that there could be a mutiny.
Theme on Washington Journal this morning are our Reps saying we are stuck in Iraq and the American people need to Move on and accept where we are and stop asking how we got there (we know many Democrats are as responsible for the war as Republicans). The big theme is Iran poses a major threat.
Call your reps “No attack on Iran” Diplomacy..
Folks I know many people are exhausted through their endless efforts to stop the dangerous criminals in the Bush administration. But if our Reps can not get those young soldiers out of Iraq, then hold those responsible for lying our nation into this war accountable.
GIVE IMPEACHMENT A CHANCE…read John Deans articles about impeaching lower level officials…and set the bar high..we want Cheney and Bush out for their lies that have resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and millions of Iraqi refugees.
From selise’s list:
10 am – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To hold hearings to examine the nomination of Julie L. Myers, of Kansas, to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security.
11 am – Senate Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine regulatory preemption relating to federal agencies usurping congressional and state authority.
I’m with Beerfart Liberal @ 5:17……..with one addition:
So where are we-or where will we be in a few months?
There will be more dead/wounded Americans and more dead/displaced Iraqis. :-(
__________
James @ 5:27 -
Most excellent questions.
Scarecrow @ 29
Wow.
thanks
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 36
nice!
JF @ 19
with Ward Cleaver as his running mate.
Scarecrow – Thanks for the link to the news about two of the men that wrote the op-ed. I had my college freshmen read that op-ed when it was published. I will give them the articles about their deaths. Two more in a long, sad litany that seems unending.
selise -
Thanks for the heads up on DN; hope to catch the beginning part later today.
Selise @11. That article about El Baradei walking out of the meeing on Iran is terrifying.
Wonder who got to Portugal/EU? Cheney, Perle, Wolfowitz, Woolsey?
hate to be a downer on this fine morning but the war with iran while theoretically ’stoppable’ will probably be a cataclysmic event overturning everything we know as ‘normal’———–
fricking idiots. the ice cap is melting and this is what they do. grind their teeth and wet themselves smelling gunpowder.
It’s easy to spin off reasons to be in Iraq, but the facts are that there is no mission for our soldiers there and no policy to support the reasons that are given. We’re not rebuilding Iraq anymore. We’re not taking anything over. We’re fed lies about progress, while at the same time, they never tell you what the actual goals are supposed to be outside of vague talking points “we’ll stand up, they’ll stand up”. It’s all lies.
The big lie is that it will take two years to get out of Iraq. They could pull out in less than a week.
Has anyone gotten the names of the other authors cause I got a real funny feeling!
Israel and Syria are on war footing now.
The US has announced a base on Iran’s border.
The IAEA is in shambles and El Baradei is being attacked again.
Putin is dissolving the Duma.
Japan’s Abe has resigned.
It’s looking really f-ing bad.
-GSD
billjpa @ 51
see Scarecrow’s dkos link above
For the record, I find nothing out of the ordinary in the Russian political maneuvering. This is how they announce the anointed successor, same as the handoff from Yeltsin to Putin.
There may be reasons to worry about war with Iran, but I don’t include this one.
For folks who haven’t read about The Saudi Connection, 9/11 What You Ought Not To Know.
Greg’s shared this before, but because there’s just so much bad news and we have so little time to read it all, I thought some pups might want to read this.
Good morning from L.A. Thanks for the morning cuppa, Scarecrow. Excellent post, as always.
For those of us who just can’t get enough of the Surge Twins, Petraeus/Crocker presser starting right now on CSPAN3…
On Washington Journal this morning both Senator Bayh (D) and Senator Pryor (D) brought up that Iran is a threat.
Most of us know that the ‘cakewalk” “winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people” crazies have been able to set the stage for a pre-emptive strike on Iran by undermining Iaea’s El Baradei and consistently repeating unsubstantiated claims about Iran during the last four years. Seymour Hersh told us in his article “The Iran Plan” that there are all ready special forces in Iran.
When we start hearing other Reps who have not been repeating the crazies theme song starting to sing “Next stop Iran”….we need to apply pressure. It is worth the try.
Call your Reps “No attack on Iran” Diplomacy is the key.
yes men have to take responsibility for their actions
Kathleen @ 40
There’s no chance of impeaching anyone, given the current Democratic leadership. However, it would be nice if they would break their silence and explain why they have chosen to do nothing.
nolo @ 15
very moving. hope it gets lots of views.
Schwarzenegger Vetoes Iraq Pullout Vote
Yeah, Nolo 15. I was thinking the same thing. This guy’s Westmoreland.
As for that despicable, shameful moveon.org ad, I’ve looked at it again. I don’t see the problem.
Some knucklehead had an op-ed in my local paper yesterday – it was in the Boston Globe too. The guy says that “This is a defining moment for the anti-war faction.” See, he explains, MoveOn is playing the role of Joe McCarthy and “supporters of the war are duty bound, like Joseph Welch, to rise and ask of war opponents,’Have you left no sense of decency?’” Get it?
It’s a bogus analogy – stupid really and the article, of course, does not address at all the substance of the ad. But this is what I was alluding to in an earlier post -what has me so pissed off – why is this a “defining moment” for us? The end of Da Surge has begun and it seems to me a defining moment for the pro-war crowd. Now what? ’cause status quo clearly isn’t acceptable.
http://www.boston.com/news/glo…..hy_moment/
Said knucklehead is i.d. only as someone who is a poli-sci professor at Duke and who served
on the National Security Council under both Clinton and Fucktard. In fact, in the NYT on August 29, 2007 the guy – Peter Feaver – is described as someone “who helped draft the buildup strategy [bfl note: Da Surge]as an official with the National Security Council but recently returned to his post as a political science professor at Duke University.” Said Professor Feaver is also quoted in an article about Iraq, “One of the Top Five Deadliest Places on Earth,” written by – ya ready? – our old pal Michael O’Hanlon who “had the honor of attending Woody Woo” with – right – General David Petreaus. http://www.dailyprincetonian.c…..6824.shtml
What is this? An O’Hanlon-Feaver-Petreaus circle jerk? Sadly,it’s a bigger club and our media is swallowing everything with few exceptions.
I’m writing a letter to my editor of the paper this bullshit Feaver article appeared in. Think it’ll ever see the light of day?
AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH.
Here’s some Democratic talking points that I’d like to see all over the place…
This Administration continues to try to sell failure as success.
There appears to be no overall, specific mission for our troops in Iraq.
The Administration has said that it doesn’t want timelines, but is now telling us that they will withdraw 30,000 troops in the Spring. How is that not a timeline?
When we return to the pre-surge troop level, we will return to exactly the place we were last year, so how, exactly is that progress?
Feel free to add your own.
Thank you Scarecrow. It is always the same. “Six months ago the War was much worse, than now.” (except six months ago they said we were winning). “We only need six more months to win.” (which they also said six months ago).
This is a “ground hog day”, or an endless “do loop”, that lasts six months, except it gets more tragic each cycle. A “Friedman Cycle”. Oh by the way, it is not necessary to read the unimaginable Chicken Hawk Gerson today. But the MoveOn people are compared to third graders.
How many more heartbreaks will Congress allow.
I listened for a minute to the show at the Press Club. they are saying the same things they repeated over and over yesterday.
So if I listened right. The are using 160,000 troops to fight Alquaeda which makes up 10% of the Iraqis . Sorry for the spelling
“military progress in Iraq that seemed unimaginable even six months ago.”
I thought the only progress in Iraq was imaginary.
g’morning all firedogs!
I don’t know much abour warner…has he been switching to the get out of Iraq camp or was he expecting a different answer?
On the op-ed soldiers who died. I remember thinking at the time: I fear that as a result of this piece they may be put in harms way, or missions known to have special risk as a result of this.
selise @ 39
http://www.vanityfair.com/poli…..ions200710
Article by Don Barlett and James Steele ref’d by selise………see also Q & A with authors linky there.
at press conference (c-span3) – shorter petraeus: it’s all iran’s fault
Senator Warner is concerned about the Army and Marines being actually broken.
GeorgeSimian @ 63
great talking points but I would like to add more bite;
“the adminstration has told us there is no plan for success, they have told us they intend on investing the lives and fortunes of our soldiers for ten years
ten years…this is what they will actually try to convince Americans is good for our country”
“the administration continues to think Americans are intellectually challenged and continue to try to sell their war which we all know has made and continues to fuel al qaeda, continues to breed terrorism, continues to strain our national defense and resources.
I would hope Americans are not as stupid as the administration thinks they are”
“the administration claims there will be a draw down and they are lying to the American public, they are reducing the surge to original strength becuase they have made it impossible to continue the surge
if the surge was working that would mean they would continue the surge to other arena’s and continue their succcess
there is no success, the numbers do not lie”
egregious @ 72
so he has been on this with us?
I am telling you we can deal with the republicans and we have to do it…we have to get them to vote with us and remove this man from office
we can promise a quick confirmation of the republican of their choosing, we can promise them pork and uncontested elections but we CANNOT WAIT till this president “hands off” his failures
got to go to work dogs, will be back later
Beerfart Liberal @ 62
Great digging. Thanks! I was curious about this guy. Your findings should get wider play.
From Driftglass: re Fran Townsend on Fox Sunday TV:
In appearance on two Sunday talk shows, she used the “virtually impotent” reference both times, suggesting the language was chosen with careful purpose.
…
Now if you don’t have access to a boyspeak translator, allow me to explain: Having your woman call out another man as impotent is double-dog-daring him to take a swing at you.
It’s using the international stage to go right after his recently retouched manhood.
It is a video dickslap at bin Laden, calling his mama ugly and trying very deliberately to goad him into take another shot at us.
It isn’t what any reasonably bright human above the age of 12 would mistake for statecraft.
Day-uhm! It looks like Hacktacular Howie has lost his access to the kool-aid.
First he quotes Arianna:
Then he tweaks her but in the process hits BushCo quite a bit harder:
Media Notes column
Congressman David Obey(D) Wis. will be on the Diane Rehm show at 10 est. He will be focused on “Raising hell for Justice”
1-800-433-8850 drshow@wau.org
Hope someone calls and brings up the Impeachment march this Saturday
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 30
Kagan, his wife and the other war crazed are cranking it up over at Weekly Standard.
Why can’t these committees ask the President and VP these questions directly???? The military is going to reply in the context of their mission. The Ambassador is caught in the middle of no policy. Why not have the people who started this explain their “Strategery”
IS the Moveon ad any different than the Republicans calling the Democrats “defeatocrats”?
-GSD
GSD @ 82
yes.
the move on ad is true.
I found this article through TalkLeft,
from the LATimes
perris @ 74
A surprising amount of Republicans calling in to Washington Journal bringing up Impeachment. They know this group of warmongers do not represent the majority of Republicans, they know their party was hi-jacked by radical zealots
New Scarecrow upstairs on the on-going Bait and Switch
Scarecrow keeps it comin’ in the new thread.
Bush/Cheney’s Fraudulent Bait And Switch
egregious @ 72
Which is to say, Senator Warner is awake. More stunning is that he is willing to publicly admit to being awake, unlike most of his GOP colleagues.
Funny what kind of freedom deciding to retire can give you.
I have said that the entire article was very factual but I still think that the Betrayus line was unnecessary.
-GSD
selise @ 83
Exactly. And the more the rethuglicans squawk their righteous indignation, the more attention the ad gets. Here’s something interesting, re: all their pearl clutching.
Shorter GenPet & Crock Show…
Iran, Iran, Iran!
(War Can’t be won.)
GenPet & Crocker.
uhm, the uhm…ehm
moves violence that
erm…clearly da surge
uhm, uhm, as security
starts to take hold.
and two levels ah…
25 plus 2. Iran has money!
The provinces. Uh…
Also works in Baltimore!
Big brains. Main effort.
Diagrams captures effort.
Anbar, Anbar, Anbar!
When we get back to Baghdad!
A competition, an accomodation!
A solution! Folks have said.
Machiavelli’s day! Governors assassinated!
General Mohon! Shouting! No Shooting!
Hard drives. Computers. No question!
One question per customer!
We banged away in Anbar! Hold!
They’re not going to run Iraq again!
Sell, sell, sell! Da! Surge! The GenPet
is inferior & can’t tell right from wrong!
selise @ 39
now on democracy now! – analysis on the pentagon’s missing $9 billion. it’s worse than i thought… the CPA, bremer look very, very dirty. wow.
So true.
Want hearings and investigations that matter? Start with, the Bush family, Carlyle Group,Halliburton, Bechtel, Saudis, raiding the U.S. Treasury, and trumped up war. That’s a hearing I’d tune in for.
I cannot believe this is coincidence. The remaining soldiers (how many are there now? One was already injured before it was published and now these three) had better watch their backs…
GSD @ 89
well, it sure got the ad a lot of attention… i’d think that there are lots of people who actually read the content because of provocative “betrayus” headline. and lots more people who will remember the ad.
personally, i liked it… but maybe it’s just a matter of individual taste.
jim oconnor @ 92
yeah, but i’m losing hope in the possibility of effective hearings.
Moveon is trying to do something though and with the lunatics we have running the show I know they are on the side of humanity.
-GSD
Selise at 95: Me too. Sad to say.
Good Morning Scarecrow and pups.
Glad there are so many gifted, caring pups up and at it early today. It’s gonna be a day of needing company. Thank heaven for the Lake.
Terrific post sc, but man it hurts to read.
Am I correct that Warner’s getting crankier by the minute, closing in on absolute disgust with the administration? Yesterday he seemed very angry but, although asking some stinging questions, he didn’t particularly seem to blame the 2 currently on the hotseat in the hearings. Now that he has announced that he will not run for re-election, maybe he will pull off the gloves at long last. (i can dream, anyway)
Dodd is insisting in public he will NOT vote any more funding for Iraq. He wants the troops outta there.
IS it time to tackle those truly responsible, jr & shooter? If not now, when? Ever?
The Iraq situation is horrific, utterly criminal, especially after the “lessons [supposedly] learned” in ‘Nam.
I gather, selise, that you, too, flinch every time he/they even mention Iran. It is utterly unthinkable they would have the gall to expand this disasterous undertaking.
Bless the brave Code Pink folks, MoveOn.org, KeithO & Jon. It’s a daunting time to be a protestor. An absolute nightmare for the soldiers and their families.
At this point, I’m leaning twd the “grownup” in the lineup for prez: Dodd. Unless Gore or Feingold comes forward. No more games. The nation is in a dreadful place in its history. I just hope we can climb out of the mess.
In the meantime, does it not FINALLY make sense, at this point, to do everything possible to tie this dreadful administration in knots unless and until they leave?!
At least impeachment proceedings would serve to hold them somewhat at bay, and pretend to bring them to account for their crimes. We simply cannot proceed down their chosen path, and still expect to be able to return to normal, ever.
Please! Set that table, Madam Speaker. ASAP!
It is all about Iran this morning on the Washington Journal.
Are we kidding ourselves that anything can be done to stop the “train that left the tracks” for Iran, Syria and Iraq when we illegally and pre-emptively invaded Iraq?
Could someone please tell me, is the Betr. ad up at the moveon website? or where would there be a copy. I haven’t read the whole thing, only seen it waved at the cameras. Thanks.
I thought the “Betrayus” bit originated with an article in the Times of London, Ausust 19, 2007:
Americans doubt ‘General Betraeus’ over troop surge
. . .
Critics, including one recently retired general, are privately calling him “General Betraeus” on the grounds that he is too ambitious to deliver a balanced report on the war.
Lawrence Korb, a defence official under Ronald Reagan who is now at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank, said Petraeus was regarded as “the most political general since General [Douglas] Mac-Arthur”, a reference to the second world war hero who was touted as a possible president
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news…..284289.ece" rel="nofollow">http:// http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news…..284289.ece
Link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t…..284289.ece
Knowing BushCo as we do it’s not at all unreasonable to assume that the deaths of these soldiers were caused by “Friendly Fire.”
egregious @ 54
Seeing that coming from you I feel better.
Thanks.
David Ehrenstein @ 103
Not out of line to consider that they have been subjected to the same treatment as Pat Tillman
Just got off the phone with Senator Sherrod Browns office. He only supports diplomatic means in regard to Iran.
Let’s hope this stands.
selise @ 60
thanks — me too — things are
going to get interesting on the
new AG front as well. . . see
leahy’s guest blog entry.
p e a c e
GeorgeSimian @ 63
Leave Iraq.
Evict Bush & Cheney.
Get on with solving America’s problems.