Donald Rumsfeld said this weekend that withdrawal plans send a message to the insurgents that if they wait us out, they can prevail. The Bush administration has said repeatedly that even talking about withdrawing will cause the insurgents to wait us out. Isn't it obvious that this rationale is devoid of any and all logic.
The insurgents LIVE in Iraq. They're going to "wait us out" no matter what we do!
U.S. commanders in the field have repeatedly said that over 90% the insurgents are local Iraqis. If we tell them that we are never going to leave, do you think that will make them fight less against us? And if we were to win the game of waiting them out, where would they go? Back home?
They're already home!In their minds --whether you agree with them or not -- they are fighting for their homeland, their culture and their people.
Over 80% of the people polled in Iraq say they want the American troops out of their country. Now, do you think those people are going to fight more or fight less if we tell them we will be staying indefinitely?From
The Insurgents Will Wait Us Out No Matter What -- They Live There! by Cenk Uygur on November 21, 2005
Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-insurgents-will-wait-_b_11028.htmlThis is what
"The Colonels" & Congressman Murtha have fully recognized.
Listening to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on ABC yesterday, I was reminded of his infamous “long, hard slog” memo of October 16, 2003, to top Pentagon brass. The memo mentioned that he had asked our regional combatant commanders, “Is our current situation such that ‘the harder we work, the behinder we get?’”
That memo was leaked to the press almost immediately, but we never learned what those commanders told Rumsfeld.Two years later, Rumsfeld has now heard, indirectly, from the commanders fighting the war in Iraq.
The silver-tongued defense secretary seemed blindsided yesterday, when he was asked by ABC News to explain why the colonels apparently departed so sharply from the official line that they have all the troops they need in Iraq. The interviewer referred Rumsfeld to a
Time magazine report yesterday (
http://tinyurl.com/cfrfx) about an unusual closed-door meeting last week at which 10 battalion commanders were asked for their unvarnished views on the situation in Iraq.
The colonels’ briefing combined with the brave performance of Rep. John Murtha may be the political one-two punch needed to change the course of U.S. policy in Iraq. The colonels made their splash in a private, uncensored hearing with concerned senators John Warner, R-Va., chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Mark Dayton, D-Minn. Congressional staff members took part, but apparently
absent were the civilian minders from Rumsfeld’s office who normally tag along.<clip>
It has long been clear that for the U.S. the war is unwinnable. We Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity took a strong position on that more than two years ago (
http://tompaine.com/Archive/scontent/9289.html). As Murtha indicated in his November 17 speech, he too has been saying for over a year that the Iraq war cannot be won “militarily.” Since there are precious few fresh troops to be “mobilized,” and since reconstituting the draft appears out of the question, Murtha decided to do the honest thing and call for the troops to be withdrawn, rather than blithely tolerate a handful of casualties a day in order to “stay the course” — whatever that may mean in present circumstances.
From
Murtha And The Colonels by Ray McGovern on November 21, 2005
Link:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051121/murtha_and_the_colonels.phpTom Engelhardt notes a very important "tipping point" that has now happened --
"Fear is no longer on the Bush administration's side. No wonder they're now afraid -- very, very afraid." How stunningly in recent weeks the landscape has altered -- almost like your basic hurricane sweeping through some unprotected and unprepared city.
Now, to their amazement, Bush administration officials find themselves thrust through the equivalent of a Star-Trekkian wormhole into an anti-universe where everything that once worked for them seems to work against them. As always, in the face of domestic challenge, they have responded by attacking -- a tactic that was effective for years. The President, Vice President, National Security Adviser, and others have ramped up their assaults, functionally accusing Democratic critics of little short of treason -- of essentially undermining American forces in the field, if not offering aid and comfort to the enemy. On his recent trip to Asia, the President put it almost as bluntly as his Vice President did at home: "As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them into war continue to stand behind them." The Democrats were, he said over and over, "irresponsible" in their attacks. Dick Cheney called them spineless "opportunists" peddling dishonestly for political advantage.
But instead of watching the Democrats fall silent under assault as they have for years, they unexpectedly found themselves facing a roiling oppositional hubbub threatening the unity of their own congressional party.
In his sudden, heartfelt attack on Bush administration Iraq plans ("a flawed policy wrapped in illusion") and his call for a six-month timetable for American troop withdrawal, Democratic congressional hawk John Murtha took on the Republicans over their attacks more directly than any mainstream Democrat has ever done. ("I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done. I resent the fact, on Veterans Day, he
criticized Democrats for criticizing them.") Perhaps more important, as an ex-Marine and decorated Vietnam veteran clearly speaking for a military constituency (and possibility some Pentagon brass), he gave far milder and more "liberal" Democrats cover.
For the first time since the war in Iraq began, "tipping points," constantly announced in Iraq but never quite in sight, have headed for home. Dan Bartlett, counselor to the President and drafter of recent Presidential attacks on the Democrats, told David Sanger of the New York Times that "Bush's decision to fight back… arose after he became concerned the debate was now at a tipping point"; while Howard Fineman of Newsweek dubbed Murtha himself a "one-man tipping point."
Something indeed did seem to tip, for when the White House and associates took Murtha on, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats leaped aggressively to his defense. In fact, something quite unimaginable even a few days earlier occurred. When Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, the most junior member of the House, accused Murtha (via a Marine colonel from her district) of being a coward, Democratic Representative Harold Ford from Tennessee "charged across the chamber's center aisle to the Republican side screaming that Ms. Schmidts's attack had been unwarranted. ‘You guys are pathetic!' yelled Representative Martin Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts. ‘Pathetic.'"
From An American Tipping Point? --- Losing the Fear Factor: How The Bush Administration Got Spooked by Tom Engelhardt on November 21, 2005
Link:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=38464Vice President Cheney made a striking claim a few minutes ago at the American Enterprise Institute:
Those who advocate a sudden withdraw from Iraq should answer a couple simple questions. Would the United States and other free nations be better off or worse off with Zarqawi, Bin Laden and Zawahiri in control Iraq? Would we be safer or less safe with Iraq ruled by men intent upon the destruction of our country.
Cheney didn’t provide any evidence supporting his claim. The suggestion is that if the U.S. leaves, Iraqi forces would be completely incapable of defending the country against terrorists. Yesterday on ABC, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said people who doubted the capabilities of Iraqi security forces were “flat wrong”:
People who denigrate their competence and capability are flat wrong. They’re making a mistake. They either don’t understand the situation or they’re trying to confuse it, but the Iraqi security forces are well respected by the Iraqi people. They’re doing a very good job.
Link:
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/21/cheney-oblSo, not only does Cheney fail at the "fear & lie" strategy, he and Rumsfeld seem incapable of any form of consistency -- a rather typical outcome of always lying.
As for an "Iraqi Tipping Point" -- well that happened today in Cairo:Iraqi Leaders Urge a Timetable for Eventual Troop Withdrawal Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi leaders, meeting at a reconciliation conference in Cairo, urged an end to violence in the country and
demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq. In a final statement, read by Arab League chief Amre Moussa, host of the three-day summit, they called for
``the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces.'' No date was specified.
<clip>
The Arab League is playing an increasing role in attempting to bring Iraq's Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni groups closer together. <clip>
``It's a first step, many difficulties and differences remain,'' Moussa said. At one point Shiite and Kurdish delegates stormed out of a closed session
when one of the speakers said they had sold out to the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
Link:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aDLgOBgqARvw&refer=top_world_news We are joined, now, by a majority of our fellow citizens in knowing that Bush, Cheney and the neoconsters lie. Just tracking all the lies told by these characters since Rep. Murtha gave his speech on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - a mere 4 days ago - would be a daunting research librarian task.
As we know, we had no just cause for invading Iraq, and all the lies associated with that fact will be reason for numerous tribunal proceedings in the years ahead.
Of immediate concern, however, is the fact that we have no - zero, nada, none - legitimate reason for staying in Iraq unless all we want to do is be targets for folk who have made it abundantly clear that they do not want us in their country.
Rep. Murtha knows it. "The Colonels" know it. Most of our fellow citizens know it.
It is time for us to refuse any form of support to any elected official who does not, from this moment forward, join with Rep. Murtha, and other responsible members of Congress, and begin the process of establishing a logistically secure redeployment of ALL our troops out of Iraq.
The Arab League and many members of the UN are obviously ready to assist the Iraqi people and would likely accelerate and expand their efforts if an American leader had the guts and humility to go before the UN General Assembly and apologize and request assistance as we securely extract ALL our troops and ALL our citizens from Iraq.
If the Government of Iraq or Iraqi citizens wish to do business with any American, I'm sure they'll contact us. That should be THEIR choice, NOT OURS.
End the illegal occupation of Iraq. And, then let's get to work making sure that those responsible for the deception and death are held accountable before the law.
Peace.
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