As the sun sets on America's would-be Middle Eastern empire, it is clear that this war was wrong and immoral. This war was and remains a crime. No doubt, Bush had hoped that a victory on the ground would have kept the architects of this crime against humanity off the gallows. He was wrong. Again. The Media Failed America
It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media. Every branch of the media failed, from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites to television networks, cable channels and radio. I'm not going to go into chapter and verse about the media's specific failures, its credulousness about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds and failure to make clear that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 -- they're too well known to repeat. In any case, the real failing was not in any one area; it was across the board. Bush administration lies and distortions went unchallenged, or were actively promoted. Fundamental and problematic assumptions about terrorism and the "war on terror" were rarely debated or even discussed. Vital historical context was almost never provided. And it wasn't just a failure of analysis. With some honorable exceptions, good old-fashioned reporting was also absent. ...
Bush Failed the Generals
05.01.2007
Washington, DC
Today, two retired Generals who led troops in Iraq expressed outrage at the President's veto of the US Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act.
The President vetoed our troops and the American people. His stubborn commitment to a failed strategy in Iraq is incomprehensible. He committed our great military to a failed strategy in violation of basic principles of war. His failure to mobilize the nation to defeat world wide Islamic extremism is tragic. We deserve more from our commander-in-chief and his administration.
--Maj. Gen. John Batiste, USA, Ret.
US 'failed to control' Iraq oil
A United Nations panel has found that the US-led occupation authority failed to exercise proper controls over Iraq's oil industry and could not say how much oil had gone missing since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board report also said there were "important weaknesses" in the management by occupation officials of up to $20bn in Iraqi funds, mostly from oil sales.
US politicians have often accused the UN of incompetence and, perhaps, corruption in its handling of the oil-for-food programme, a scheme to alleviate Iraqi suffering under sanctions before the war. Now the boot is on the other foot. ...
US Failed to Foresee the Resistance to Occupation
American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in Baghdad have failed to reduce bloodshed in the increasingly violent Iraqi capital, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday.
In an uncharacteristically gloomy admission, Major General William Caldwell said the recent surge in violence was “disheartening”. He said US and Iraqi forces would have to “refocus” security measures. The review was demanded by General George Casey, who commands the 140,000 US troops in Iraq.
Gen Caldwell did not specify how security methods might be refocused, but the unusually grim assessment seems in part intended to put pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take political steps that US officers have long said need to accompany military operations. ...
The US Failed the Wider War
For the United States, Afghanistan is the sideshow. Iraq is the main event. The staying power of the United States in Afghanistan will largely be determined by what happens in Iraq. If Americans---elites and the people alike---decide that Iraq is a lost cause, they will soon decide the same thing about Afghanistan. An American troop withdrawal from Iraq will be quickly be followed by a withdrawal from Afghanistan. When Canadians consider the future of their Afghan mission, they need to keep an eye on Iraq. What happens there will determine the geo-strategic outlook for Afghanistan.The following videos are best viewed in order. Three videos made up what was originally broadcast on PBS Frontline in the US. However, since posting this article, someone complained and DailyMotion "pulled" the first episode. I wonder which part of Bush's criminal administration had been offended by the truth? Since that time, I have found a good selection of excerpts of the entire documentary with which to lead. I really don't know if these excerpts replace the offending portion of episode number one.
The videos are still best viewed in order, stopping the completed vid before moving on.
The US failed in Iraq because the Bush administration is ideological, not pragmatic. They went to war upon a pack of lies, conclusions in search of premises. When things didn't work according to preconceived notions, Bush vowed to stay a course that had already failed. Vainly hoping for success but never capable of defining it, Bush fell victim to his own inflexibility, right-wing ideology and visions of vainglorious conquest.
The Existentialist Cowboy
Iraq Failure
War Crimes
Why Conservatives Hate America
GOP Crime Syndicate
Bush
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4 comments:
FuzzFlash polemicizes...
"Vainly hoping for success but never capable of defining it, Bush fell victim to his own inflexibility, right-wing ideology and visions of vainglorious conquest."
Len, I guess this is why some folk call him: The Imbecile.
Kinda fits.
WaPo has fingered The Dickster as the brains of The Outfit. Although we(most of us here anyway), have been hip for quite a while. This level of static from the MSM is gonna bring grief to the hardcore PNACs presently sealed, bubbled and bunkered at 1600 Penn. Maybe even embolden a mess of chickenshit Lawmakers.
If most of the 536 big, brave "Gary Coopers" on the Hill would steal a glance at their fob-watches, instead of systematically looting the Federal Reserve on behalf of the MIC, they might observe that it's 11.59 A.M. SDT.
Standard Democracy Time.
We Are Coming, Mother-Fuckers,
And We Will Not Rest,
Until OUR Country Is FREE !!
FuzzFlash polemicizes...
Len, I guess this is why some folk call him: The Imbecile.
Kinda fits.
If Dick Cheney is really Bush's brain, George might have been better off with Karl Rove. Karl was only a half-wit.
Oh well...I could never understand how Americans could believe GOPPERS to be smarter than Democrats. GOPS are wrong on every issue. I have yet to catch one being right about anything at any time.
The GOP is fundamentally wrong on the economy, security, terrorism, Constitutional issues, prisons & crime, welfare and other human issues, Social Security, the court system, corporations, business, civil liberties, world affairs, the environment, global warming....well, you get the idea.
The GOP is wrong on EVERY issue. Dead wrong!
The exception to that may be Ron Paul. I know Ron Paul and once tried to tell him that he was not really a Republican. But he was having none of it. That was a long time ago.
Len, what Bush and Cheney have done to Iraq and her people is a tragedy and should have never happened. The killing of hundreds of thousands people will go down in our country’s history as one of our darkest of times. There are moments I wonder if our country can survive all that has happened, and remain united as one country.
Our country is divided, there’s the west coast, east coast and somewhere there is that middle of the country all with uniquely different political views. I’m from the West Coast , I fit the mold liberal to my soul but when I visit the South to my amazement I find Bush bumper stickers on the majority of their cars. I’m told he’s immensely popular there, today, after all he has done in Iraq, can you imagine. We are definitely a country divided, when your able to listen to these Republican debates on family values and love of God. All these Guys still believe in pre-emptive strike on another country. This after Iraq, will our country ever learn?
You are right, and where was our media during all this? They sold out to the highest bidders of course, Corporations, Bush and Cheney, and lets not forget the facist Republican regime. They were mercilessly destroying our Constitution with rights that had been given to us for 1200 years, rigged elections, wiretapping of our fellow citizens, the list goes on and on. But the most tragic of all, those innocent people who lost their lives in this Iraq War.
Bush and Cheney will be impeached, whether in office or out of office, one day in the not to distant future they will be held responsible for this War.
Diane B said...
Our country is divided, there’s the west coast, east coast and somewhere there is that middle of the country all with uniquely different political views.
The US was always split along the same cultural fault lines but never so severely. A huge contributing factor is Ronald Reagan's assault on the Communications Act of 1934. I remember a "Fairness Doctrine" that virtually guaranteed minorites a voice on the MSM. It always had the effect of moderating the most odious loud mouthed demogogues like Rush Limbaugh.
In the early to middle sixties there was a guy named Joe Pyne whom few remember today. Pyne, however, was a mixed bag though generally a conservative. He supported the Vietnam War and ridiculed hippies. But he opposed racial discrimination and supported labor unions.
The divisions today are much worse than the sixties. Pat Buchanan was a harbinger. In Houston, in 1992, he made what has been called a "hate speech" to the GOP national convention. The term "cultural war" stuck and now we are stuck with the real thing.
Americas are divided and those on the opposing sides hate one another. I don't see a happy resolution soon.
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