What with the high casualty rate so far this month, our troops might be out of Iraq sooner than we thought.[sup]*[/sup]
- I put this here because I expect some pissed off responses.
From CNN:
War plans: Congress OKs $20 mil for victory parties
Wonder if they’ve already bought a “Mission Accomplished!” banner.
Probably not. Though I’m assuming you mean very soon, by which I assume you mean sooner than The Leader would wish. Even if the prayers of the just are answered, and the Dems kill next month, the military is the creature of the Executive, and that’s pretty much that.
Thing is, I don’t think GeeDubya cares that much about the Republican Party, and is unwilling to make any personal sacrifice at their alter. He sincerely believes (God help us!) that he is a Man of Destiny, a War President. He seems to constantly believe that the resolution to his troubles is just over the horizon. If he just holds on a little longer, the Shia and Sunni will be dancing around the maypole, singing “Kumballah” and planning appropriate statuary to honor The Leader. Bunker mentality is setting in.
Re read the OP and put a gruesome interpretaion on it.
I am reminded of Wilhelm II who wanted to be called “Supreme Warlord”.
In some cases, I’m sure you are correct. However, per the wishes of the government, there will be no photographs of the homecoming.
Their names will be mentioned in a segment of This Week with George Stephanopoulous on Sunday though.
So the English WWI ace was shot down and captured by the Germans. He was badly injured, and had to have a leg amputated. He called the commanding officer of his captors over to his bedside.
“Would it be possible to have my leg dropped over my air base, so that it might be properly buried?” Th gallant Germans complied. Regretably, the other leg became infected, and a further amputation required. The English airman made the same request, but was met with firm refusal!
“Nein! We believe you are trying to escape!”
(You mean that kind of gruesome? Exfiltration by body bag?)
But luci, what makes you think the president actually knows, really knows just how bad it is and how fast things are spinning out of control? The evidence suggests he’s incurious and uninterested in newspapers or reading in general, thus unexposed to a wide range of viewpoints; he’s surrounded by people in whose interest it is to tell him things are going well, if we can just be patient a little longer all will turn out hunky-dory; those offering negative views are marginalized and/or forced out of the administration. Add that on top of his God’s Chosen Man of Destiny conviction and you’ve got someone who is operating on another plane than reality.
Yup. I think he means we are running out of IED fodder.
And the big-dome leaders à là Rummy rely on an ample supply. I’m reminded of the British generals at the battle of the Somme.
Since no one has killed anyone yet…
Why are we still there? We took out Sadam Hussein. Why hang around for “Nation Building”? Same with Afghanistan. We whacked them for harboring Bin Ladin, didn’t catch him, why stay around? Just crush their armies and leave them wriggling in the dirt.
I know, David, you say your generation wasn’t that great, but I can’t imagine what it must be like for you, having seen WWII firsthand, and then watching so much of what you fought for be pissed away by this Administration. You guys fought the good fight (yeah, I know, there were violations fo the “rules of war” by our side, I’ve heard stories from my uncles who were there, but they pretty much pale in comparison to our recent actions, since our current President became enamored of torture, while FDR and Truman didn’t),and now the US has gone from being one of the world’s heroes, to one of it’s villians.
David Simmons, I think this is our first direct communication. Please accept my very best regards and wishes.
Our military (which we like to think of as the expression, if not the finest distillation, of our fiercest, strongest, and most resourceful qualities) is currently being controlled by a man who does not respect it (see his own service record), does not honor it (see how his administration treats veterans), and can neither protect it (see sending soldiers into battle with inadequate armor, and, year after year, doing nothing to remedy the lack) nor control it (see Abu Ghraib). We have, writ large, a spoiled brat playing with his father’s tools, a Phaeton who stole the reins to a chariot he had neither the strength nor the intelligence to steer.
The word “macabre” denotes “shocking, aberrent, repellent” and connotes all those things with the causal undercurrent of death and injustice. The thought that American soldiers will leave (alive or dead) a country as the bungling thugs and bullies their commanders, reflecting their own character, ordered them to be, is shocking, repellent, and steeped in the blood of many innocent men (of any nationality). So, yeah. “Macabre” is the perfect description of your thoughts.
My description of GW from the beginning has been “a sophomoric ninny.”
However, it seems to go beyond that. He has surrounded himself with a group of venal, power hungry autocrats one of whom, Rumsfeld, has in turn surrounded himself with a bunch of military toadies at the top levels. Maj. General Paul Eaton who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq says that there are a lot of 4-stars who have been remiss in their duty to provide the best possible military advice to the civilian managers. He went on to say that every 3 and 4 star candidate is personally interviewed by Rumsfeld with the clear implication that those unwilling to go along to get along are not selected. Bob Woodward in his new book says that his interviews indicate that Rumsfeld has “flushed out of the top command” those who would give unwelcome advice.
The statement of GW is continually that he listens to the generals as to troop levels and the like. However the first general, Shinseki, who said more troops were needed was told his services were no longer required. Generals like Eaton, at the division level, don’t have direct acces to the president to ask for more troops. They must go through channels and when their requests gets to the top levels it appears to run into a bunch of old “Lean and Mean” Rumsfeld yes-men.
I’m currently reading John W. Dean’s book Conservatives Without Consicience. It’s taking me a long time because reading is getting to be a little difficult. However, it is a very depressing book and I recognize every day, actions by our political leaders at the highest levels, the behaviors that Dean describes and deplores.
My macabre thought was wondering if last week more children died of shooting incidents than Soldiers died in Iraq?
Maybe, but so what? Both should be ended.
Indeed, but the thought of it is troubling for sure.
Having done so…having replaced all the commanders with such persons whose advice can reliably be depended upon to reflect views already established… they are then in a position to say, with a straight face, that they rely on the advice of the top field commanders. Having already installed those opinions.
See, this is the kind of stuff you say that I really don’t get. If a man has a strategy or a goal, it is always best to surround that man with other men who share the same strategy or goal. I think of Secretary Rumsfeld as a sort of Don-Shula-type figure. He has assembled a team with an almost myopic mission.
My Main Macabre Thought is that this war, this deadly deal, is a way of churning through the fat meat of our military. And then harden it with new, tougher volunteers.
Secondary Macabre Thought: that our SECDEF is using this urban conflict to impress upon our citizens the futility of armed insurrection.
There is a BIG. FUCK. DIFFERENCE. between sharing the same vision and being a “yes man.” Someone who shares the same vision as you will tell you when the road ahead is hazardous, and suggest an alternate route to the same destination. A yes man will simply keep driving the way you tell him, even though he knows the bridge is out and they’re all going to plunge over a cliff. Rummy wants yes men, NOT people who share the same vision as him.