You’re Not An Abused Puppy, You’re Majority Leader!
Why would Harry Reid, incoming Senate Majority Leader, even consider providing cover for President Bush? This administration is trying desperately to come up with a plan (any plan) that will allow them to continue to occupy Iraq under the guise of “spreading democracy” that doesn’t look to the public like “staying the course”. The newest idea floating out of the White House is sending more American troops into Baghdad to help quell the civil war that is now in full stride. Even if we had the troops to send, it wouldn’t do a damn bit of good, it would only result in more American lives lost. At this point we have few options left, we can either choose a side in Iraq’s civil war, leave our troops in the middle taking fire from both sides or get the hell out. The American people voted for getting the hell out when they put the Democrats in charge of Congress. Harry Reid better get that straight.
President Bush is floundering, he’s got little or no support from the American people, he’s lost his rubber stamp Congress, not to mention the firewall against investigation of the lead up and execution of this war that the GOP Congress provided. In short, Bush is in trouble and I can’t figure out what Harry Reid gets out of supporting yet another White House fantasy, especially one that includes putting more of our young men and women in harms way.
Even if we didn’t like it, we could at least understand why the Democrats didn’t stand up to the President when they were in the minority, but now that they’ve actually acquired some power, there’s no reason to continue to roll over for this President. Majority Leader Reid better shed his abused dog mentality quickly and get on with what the American people elected the Democrats to do. Force this administration to engage diplomatically with Iraq’s neighbors, negotiate a peace and get our troops out of Iraq! If that doesn’t work, impeach the bastard, but under no circumstances should any more of his hair-brained schemes be met with anything other than condescending laughter. Neuter him and get on with mopping up his mess, but do not pretend that he has anything constructive to contribute. Sending more troops to Iraq is as dumb as it sounds and Harry Reid shouldn’t be afraid to say so.
posted by The (liberal)Girl Next Door @ 10:23 AM
9 Comments:
Hey Mollie,
What it comes down to here is making sure you're surrounded by the right people. Few Democratic politicians know what's going on in Iraq at the level that they really should, even now. Hearing Silvestre Reyes fumble around talking about whether Al-Qaeda is Sunni or Shia should have brought that fact home pretty convincingly. I'm tempted to blame Nancy Pelosi, but I'm not necessarily sure any of the other candidates for the seat that Reyes now holds would be any better.
Harry Reid, and every other Democrat in Congress, need to make sure that they have people on their staff who understand what's going on in Iraq at the same level as the average reality-based-community blogger. It's one thing for Harry Reid to play politics, and there's an argument to be had when dealing with difficult decisions that the American public won't support, but this case is nothing like that. Harry Reid took a very unpopular position because he thinks that it makes military sense (it doesn't) and that there's political points to be gained by siding with the President's plan (there isn't). Why someone didn't explain that to him is beyond me, especially for someone like Reid, who is not the sharpest guy in DC, but has always been one of the most politically adept members of Congress.
Maybe we could change our definition of victory from "securing Iraq" from itself to securing the lives of the troops. We need to bring them home...not send more in. This war is a sham! The powers that be don't want "democracy" in Iraq, they want to control Iraq! They want to destroy Iraq and then allow a few select U.S companies to get paid billions of dollars to rebuild it. And I don't see them shelling out funds to rebuild all the civilian homes that have been destroyed since the war began.
If someone could name the American bloggers who really know what's going on in the Middle East, I'd like to know who those bloggers are.
I find nearly all American media --mainstream, indie, or blogger-- are still Yankee-centric. I don't find "super-patriot" or "self-loathing" Americans enlightened in the least.
Tossing about the terms Shia and Sunni is about as useful as tossing about Red State and Blue State. It's just stereotyping with colour.
During Vietnam, American publishers actually put out books on the history of French Indochina, works of Ho Chi Minh, documents on the evolution of the conflict between North & South, and books about the culture, language, and religion of Vietnam. Where are the equivalent books on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Lebanon?
The answer is NOWHERE. Oh, there are silly books about the War on Terror, but almost zip about the region and its people. Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace not Apartheid is the best, and it's place of #12 on Amazon shows there is a thirst for intelligent thought on this topic.
However, Jimmy Carter's book has been trashed by mainstream media and bloggers alike. Even though the highly knowledgeable Robert Fisk has said it is about the most thoughtful book on the conflict to come out of America.
Still, when only six Americans in Baghdad's Green Zone speak fluent Arabic and even members of Congress don't have a clear idea of Who's Who and What's What in the Middle East, then there's little hope of Victory or even a graceful Defeat. If the first rule of warfare is to Know Thine Enemy, then the US government has failed the test.
It's about the Christian Mafia.
But they have lost ground, however, we're in deep doo doo:
". . . NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST MASKS NAZI AND FASCIST ROOTS ~
On February 3, 2005 thousands of politicians, businessmen, and religious figures gathered at the Washington Hilton Hotel for the 53rd National Prayer Breakfast, continued . . .
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/scoops/christian_mafia.htm
Robert Fisk has a relatively new book out about the Middle East. It's entitled The Great Battle for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. I got it for a brother in law, and read the first 100 pages before mailing it to him as a present. It was excellent, and I would like to get it and finish it. Fisk spent nearly thirty years in the Middle East,as you may already kknow. He's a very intelligent writer, yet very accessible, not throwing his intelligence in your face as many arrogant writers try to do, via excess wordiness to cover their lack of knowledge. I recommend this book strongly as a way of getting some understanding of this part of the world from a source who's pretty clinical and rational. Not making money from the war.
The thing you need to realize is that Harry Reid is a pro-life mormon. A lot of the Democrats who won are pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay, evangelical Christians. Look at William Jefferson -- he's under federal indictment for bribery and fraud and he won his race by hammering his opponent for supporting gay rights.
So, out with the corrupt, conservative Republicans and in with the corrupt, conservative Democrats. Meet your new boss, same as the old boss. :)
ha ha ha.. when will all you liberals/progressives learn that you were used by the democrat establishment and now will be thrown aside. Just like blacks are. Blacks vote 90% democrat but never get anything in return. The Senate race in Maryland was a perfect example. Funny how in a state with such a large black population the Democrat Establishment never seem to run any blacks for the main offices. Funny how it was the Republicans who actually had the first black win a statewide election and the republicans who actually ran that same individual for the Senate.
You liberals/progressives will be receiving the same treatment as the blacks do from the Democrat Establishment, which is, "thanks for your vote NOW SHUT UP and go away..... until the next election that is"
Does this surprise you ... and guess who supports it aside from Reid and the lapdog corporate press ?
Robert, "Yes Man" Gates who said publicly the other day the U.S. must win in Iraq or risk being embarassed globally.
Sounds like "Stay The Course" to me. Hate to gloat but I warned everyone what to expect from this man several weeks ago in my last column before Christmas, "AMERICA's GATED COMMUNITY."
In it, I described Gate's checkered past of conducting the secret and illegal war in Nicaragua financed by money obtained from U.S. arms sales to Iran. At the same time, he was supplying Saddam with satellite photos and other intelligence data.
Gates was playing Iraq off against Iran in hopes they'd destroy one another. Afterwards, it was anticipated the oil companies and private contractors would move in, rebuild the countries and demand long-term concessions to the oil fields.
Does any of this sound familiar today ? Gates knows all the dirty deals cut with Saddam and Iran in the past. With Saddam's death sentence, the only problem left to clean up is the leadership of Iran who can still blackmail the Bush family.
Enter Robert Gates, who in his position as Defense Secretary will provoke a war with Iran. His actions will be a further bonanza for the Pentagon private contractors, oil companies and the investors in the Carlyle Group but sadly bring more grief to American/Mid-East families whose children will be sacrificed as pawns in the pursuit of greed.
"Starry, starry night ... They're not listening still. Perhaps they never will."
Peace,
Cosmic
"He switched his position, so good job putting the pressure on. "
So are you saying Reid was for putting more troops in Iraq before he was against it? hmmm, sounds familar and that approach worked so well before
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