Disgust and More Disgust
It is one thing to know that your country is
making a mistake going to war, on the gut feeling that it wrong. It is quite
another thing to see just how wrong it can
go.
Even The Army Times weighs in with a damning editorial -- A failure of leadership at the highest levels :
How tragically ironic that the American military, which was welcomed to Baghdad by the euphoric Iraqi people a year ago as a liberating force that ended 30 years of tyranny, would today stand guilty of dehumanizing torture in the same Abu Ghraib prison used by Saddam Hussein’s henchmen.
Meanwhile, the folly of the Administration seems surreal. Bush says that Rumsfeld is doing a great job, but meanwhile, some top Army brass seem to be itching to get fired. Maj. Gen. Swannack of the 82nd airborne is on record saying that we are losing the war. Note to Rummy: If your generals are talking to the press saying things like that, its probably because they think that you weren't listening to them when they told you the same thing over and over for the past three months.
The administration is saying that abuse of Iraqi prisoners is limited to a handful of soldiers, and yet it is clear that responsibility runs clear to the top. For example, the man who oversaw the reopening ("under new management") of Abu Ghraib was himself under investigation by the Justice Department following a prisoner cruelty episode in one of his jails in Utah. According to the New York Times, he was part of a team chosen by John Ashcroft to rebuild the Iraqi justice system. Note to John: I'd start by trying to rebuild the American justice system that you have been dismantling for the past two years.
Paul Wolfowitz, meanwhile shows every indication of being out-of-the-loop. The Boston Globe writes :
Wolfowitz said he does not think the United States is losing in Iraq, and said no senior officer has expressed that thought to him either.
Meanwhile, the verb 'Shinseki' has been catching airtime. As in this quote from John McCain:
Now, look, one of the reasons why I think many of these Army guys may not have been—and I emphasize may not have been—as forthcoming as they should, because perhaps they didn‘t want to be Shinsekied. General Shinseki testified before the Armed Services Committee that we needed several hundred thousand. He left his job. Not one single civilian in the Department of Defense attended his retirement. That was a signal to others in the Army.
Speaking of which, Ret. Gen. Eric Shinseki would make a great running mate for John Kerry.
Even The Army Times weighs in with a damning editorial -- A failure of leadership at the highest levels :
How tragically ironic that the American military, which was welcomed to Baghdad by the euphoric Iraqi people a year ago as a liberating force that ended 30 years of tyranny, would today stand guilty of dehumanizing torture in the same Abu Ghraib prison used by Saddam Hussein’s henchmen.
Meanwhile, the folly of the Administration seems surreal. Bush says that Rumsfeld is doing a great job, but meanwhile, some top Army brass seem to be itching to get fired. Maj. Gen. Swannack of the 82nd airborne is on record saying that we are losing the war. Note to Rummy: If your generals are talking to the press saying things like that, its probably because they think that you weren't listening to them when they told you the same thing over and over for the past three months.
The administration is saying that abuse of Iraqi prisoners is limited to a handful of soldiers, and yet it is clear that responsibility runs clear to the top. For example, the man who oversaw the reopening ("under new management") of Abu Ghraib was himself under investigation by the Justice Department following a prisoner cruelty episode in one of his jails in Utah. According to the New York Times, he was part of a team chosen by John Ashcroft to rebuild the Iraqi justice system. Note to John: I'd start by trying to rebuild the American justice system that you have been dismantling for the past two years.
Paul Wolfowitz, meanwhile shows every indication of being out-of-the-loop. The Boston Globe writes :
Wolfowitz said he does not think the United States is losing in Iraq, and said no senior officer has expressed that thought to him either.
Meanwhile, the verb 'Shinseki' has been catching airtime. As in this quote from John McCain:
Now, look, one of the reasons why I think many of these Army guys may not have been—and I emphasize may not have been—as forthcoming as they should, because perhaps they didn‘t want to be Shinsekied. General Shinseki testified before the Armed Services Committee that we needed several hundred thousand. He left his job. Not one single civilian in the Department of Defense attended his retirement. That was a signal to others in the Army.
Speaking of which, Ret. Gen. Eric Shinseki would make a great running mate for John Kerry.
Posted: Mon - May 10, 2004 at 09:48 PM
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Published On: Mar 09, 2008 01:25 AM
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Published On: Mar 09, 2008 01:25 AM