Iraq: the Disconnect
The news coming out of Iraq just keeps getting worse and worse. And how does the White House respond? Whenever American soldiers and Iraqi civilians get massacred in another insurgent attack, we’re treated to “See how desperate the enemy is? This means we’re winning!”
As the alignment between Iraqi insurgents and international Islamic terrorists gets even tighter, and the U.S. sinks deeper into the Iraqi quagmire, we hear “Freedom is on the march!”
U.S. forces are being stretched to the breaking point, and recruitment is way down. Apparently millions of pro-war fanatics are having so much fun blathering about “kicking ass and taking names” on the Internet and in letters to the editor, they haven’t had a chance to enlist yet.
Even with the new enlistment age of 39, the Pentagon is expecting to fall way short of their manpower needs. Yet whenever a reporter asks whether the draft might be reinstated, Rumsfeld acts like it’s the wackiest, stupidest, most paranoid question imaginable.
The Disconnect has been firmly in place since before the invasion. Two and a half years ago, among all the frenzy about Weapons of Mass Destruction and Saddam Hussein being linked to the 9/11 attacks, they were predicting a quick end to the war, with throngs of grateful Iraqi citizens showering American soldiers with hugs and flowers.
And don’t forget, “Mission Accomplished” was over two years ago.
Responding to the White House’s steady stream of happy talk, Congressman Steve Chabot, R-Ohio said “I cannot say with any confidence that that is accurate. I think it’s impossible to know how close we are to the insurgency being overcome.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said “The administration has failed to level with the American people. It’s terrible because they refuse to provide a full picture of what is really happening there.”
A former State Department official who quit in frustration in 2003 said “It’s dangerous when U.S. officials start to believe their own propaganda.”
And now, on a brighter note, you can have your own press conference with President Bush. Just type in your question, then click on the next field, and you’ll get Bush’s personalized answer. It’s so realistic, you’d swear the President was right there in the room, having a few brewskis with you.
And thanks to Mags of You Forgot Poland! for providing the link.
posted by Tom Harper @ 7:31 PM
18 Comments:
Brad Todd: The news from Iraq is not getting worse? OK, I guess someone's just making up all these stories about insurgent attacks and suicide bombers. Who's the prankster?
Yup, Karl Rove pulled the wool over people's eyes in '04. Hopefully they won't fall for his phony hot-button issues (whatever they'll be) in the next election.
You don't look old enough to have political opinions of your own yet. When you're all grown up we can have an adult conversation.
this is getting more and more like Vietnam even before Tet and guys like Brad Todd were saying the same thing. If Kerry had won I confess I dont think he could have handled this any better considering how deep we are in it.
But I'll wager for every insurgent attack that would have happend under his watch, the GOP would have been at the white house with Pickforks and Torches.
Erik
Tom, nice summary of the World According To Chimpy.
What the Brad Todds of Wingnutland don't seem to get is that we wish he were right about Iraq. It's not in anyone's interest to hope for American failure there. But it's in all our interest to face reality and deal with it with a semblance of honesty.
Let's just run away! Bad news? No problem! We are outta here! And sorry about the mess.
What's the matter with you liberals? Should we have run away from Germany and Japan because they shot back at us?
....
how can you even say that... How were we in any way provoked to attack Iraq?
How quickly the wingnutters forget phrases like "pre-emptive strike." Which was their first excuse. Then, when that stopped working, it was about "improving civilian lives..." (yeah, we're improving it by being there. I don't think it would stop completely, but I highly doubt the "insurgents" would be so quick to suicide car-bomb if there weren't a good chance of hitting American soldiers, the civilians are considered a necessary casualty by their cause.)
Now it's all about "the spreading of democracy..." uh huh. riiiiiiiight.
As for Kerry, he has nothing to do with this... you're misplacing the reason for citizen outrage here, Brad. We're outraged because our men and women are coming home in caskets in what is becoming an increasingly obvious scam, a scam that's earning billions of dollars for the well-connected contractors who don't mind sacrificing a few of their grunts now and then to kidnappings, a scam that's helping the Religious Right get a stranglehold on the fears and dreams of American citizens, a scam that may be doing some positive things for Iraqis, but it's under the guise of these positive things that an overwhelming and condemnable number of atrocious things are also being done.
And that.... the false altruism, the argument that "this is what is good for America," that "we are giving freedom to the people of the world," is the argument that makes me sickest of all.
gee, I have no idea why they hate us. I know I wouldn't feel overly welcoming.
~j
Chad: Thanks.
Erik: Oh yeah, the Brad Todds and Keiths of the world were front and center all during Viet Nam. "There's light at the end of the tunnel." "Peace is at hand." Etc. And of course anyone who was against the war was "aiding and abetting the enemy." And the beat goes on...
Brother Kenya: Yeah, that's the trouble with the wingnuts. Any sort of honest or factual appraisal of the Iraqi war is equal to "hating America" or "trying to undermine our troops." That's clearly not the case at all, but try reasoning with those people.
Keith: Brilliant comparison. Germany and Japan attacked us; Iraq didn't. Try to keep up.
~jay: Great comment; thanks. You've got 'em dialed. The ever-shifting reasons for invading Iraq, like you said -- Weapons of Mass Destruction, connections with bin Laden, we want to bring democracy to these oppressed people. The reasons keep shifting; soldiers keep getting killed to enrich a few contractors. Where's the outrage? Where's the accountability?
I once had a really bad rash. I went to a dermatologist for several visits, and on the last one he told me, "See how desperate this rash is?...now it's all over your body. That means we're winning!"
I found a new dermatologist.
I.M. Dedd: I'll bet that dermatologist got promoted to the Defense Department. Either that or he changed his name to Scott McClellan and became Bush's PR hack.
Keith - Read your history. Germany attacked our allies, and Japan attacked us DIRECTLY. Those were not pre-emptive strikes (unlike this war on Iraq), and we did not enter WWII until we were attacked.
Erinberry: Thanks; good comment.
Kevin: Thanks; glad you liked the press conference. I asked him what his daughters' names were and he spent 3 paragraphs sputtering around with his Bushspeak answers.
Brad probably wouldn't believe me if I told him I do indeed know a Reservist who just left Iraq and who is assuring everyone who will listen that the situation for American troops in Iraq is much WORSE than even the bad reports are painting. His hatred of the truth will blind him to any sliver of reality sent his way.
Keith, as usual, is just too brilliant for me to form a coherent response for.
Sad, really. These guys could be the two that would really make a difference in how the Iraq situation is unfolding-if they'd just go and kick some ass. Great strategic minds, wasting time posting talking points to blogs.
Jolly Roger: Hell, what's the point of enlisting when it's so much more fun to kick ass over the Internet, and condemn anyone who disagrees or tries to reason with you.
and once again we come to that whole point of wanting to fight a war, just not be one of the men in the bunkers.
I've long thought that one's President should always be in the front lines...
a bit like chess, no?
That would at least make us evaluate the risk we are taking...
if our president can still be off taking bicycle rides through "high level terror alerts" while our boys (and girls) are living through hell in inhospitable territory for months on end (some with no end in sight due to the sick sadistic retention practices we are using on men and women who NEED a break from the agony of war)...
...that doesn't really seem fair, does it?
~j
~jay: Yeah, if there really was a threat, there might be some soldiers with the last names Cheney, Bush, Wolfowitz, Chambliss, Limbaugh...but there aren't any.
And it's funny that whenever there's a terror alert, Bush is allowed to just keep riding his bicycle or struggling with page 7 of My Pet Goat, and Cheney gets hustled off to a secret location. What's up with that?
I have always been of the opinion that Dick Cheney just really gets off on being "important" enough to have his own Secret Location™ to go to.
"Guys, we need another terror alert, I want to go on vacation."
How much you wanna bet his secret location is like... one of those tiny resort islands in the bahamas....
~j
~jay: I wouldn't doubt it. But then again, some of these high-ranking executives/politicians are so tightly wound, they probably haven't had a relaxed moment since 4th grade. And Cheney definitely has one of those tight serious anal retentive faces.
well, the bitch does have a lot on his mind, you know... important things we normal people just can't comprehend, like how much more business he can steer toward Halliburton....
~j
~jay: Yeah, I guess I'd have a tight face and a crooked sneer too if I had to spend 24 hours a day worrying about what's best for Halliburton.
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