June 17, 2005
Up Is Down
Roughly two years ago, Rep. Walter Jones led the campaign to rename french fries, turning "freedom fries" into a symbol of protest over France's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.On Thursday, the North Carolina congressman introduced legislation calling on President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq by the autumn of 2006.
So far, so good, right? Uh...
In Onslow County, home to the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base, a county commissioner initially called on Jones to resign but later said he just wanted Jones to drop requests for a timetable for withdrawal.John R. McLaughlin, a Republican commissioner from Jacksonville, said Thursday that he was astounded when he heard that Jones had called for a timetable.
"Such a statement would provide encouragement to our enemy and be harmful to our troops," said McLaughlin, a former Army Ranger.
The five-member Board Of Commissioners, all Republicans, will consider a resolution Monday that calls on Jones to drop his efforts.
The Carteret County News-Times in Morehead City said in an editorial Wednesday that it had supported Jones in the past but called his stance on the war a "gift to terrorists".
Yeah...'cause without "encouragment", "our enemy" is just going to sit around with its thumb up its collective ass. You've noticed, have you not, how few and far-between have been attacks upon American troops of late? No? Well, Scottie sure has noticed:
The terrorists -- this message would say to the terrorists, "All you have to do is wait until that day when our troops leave, and then you can start carrying out those attacks and just hold out."
Anyhow, "Our troops understand the importance of completing the mission." (And that's precisely why we have to impose stop-loss orders, extend their tours, and activate the IRR.)
You couldn't make this shit up if you tried:
President Bush, addressing the Iranian people yesterday on the eve of their presidential election, denounced Iran's electoral system as undemocratic and vowed that the United States would stand with those seeking "freedom" in the Islamic republic.In a statement distributed by the White House, Bush said, "Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy."
The U.S. military launched a major combat operation Friday as 1,000 Marines and Iraqi soldiers fanned out to track down insurgents and foreign fighters in a volatile western province straddling Syria.Operation Spear began before dawn in Anbar province, the military said. The area is where U.S. forces said it killed about 40 militants in airstrikes in Karabilah on June 11.
But...
On Thursday, [Air Force Brig. Gen. Don] Alston blamed the recent spike in bloodshed on al-Zarqawi, who purportedly condoned the killing of fellow Muslims and denounced the Shiites as collaborators with the Americans.
Friedman's most recent column warns of a "tipping point" in Iraq. No more nor less idiotic than his usual. But if one is looking for a tipping point, perhaps the White House Press Corps is getting close. Thursday's Press Briefing (from whence the above quotes were gathered) was just possibly the most hostile to-date -- forcing McClellan to spin so furiously it's a wonder he didn't tip over. Here's a particularly juicy exchange:
Q Scott, is the insurgency in Iraq in its last throes?MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, you have a desperate group of terrorists in Iraq that are ...[snip a load of Bush/McClellan boilerplate]... And every day we move forward on democracy and training Iraqi security forces is every day closer that we are to succeeding in Iraq.
Q But the insurgency is in its last throes?
MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President talked about that the other day -- you have a desperate group of terrorists who recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq. A free Iraq will be a significant blow to their ambitions.
Q But they're killing more Americans, they're killing more Iraqis. That's the last throes?
MR. McCLELLAN: Innocent -- I say innocent civilians. And it doesn't take a lot of people to cause mass damage when you're willing to strap a bomb onto yourself, get in a car and go and attack innocent civilians. That's the kind of people that we're dealing with. That's what I say when we're talking about a determined enemy.
Q Right. What is the evidence that the insurgency is in its last throes?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just explained to you the desperation of terrorists and their tactics.
Q What's the evidence on the ground that it's being extinguished?
MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, we're making great progress to defeat the terrorist and regime elements. You're seeing Iraqis now playing more of a role in addressing the security threats that they face. They're working side by side with our coalition forces. They're working on their own. There are a lot of special forces in Iraq that are taking the battle to the enemy in Iraq. And so this is a period when they are in a desperate mode.
Q Well, I'm just wondering what the metric is for measuring the defeat of the insurgency.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you can go back and look at the Vice President's remarks. I think he talked about it.
Q Yes. Is there any idea how long a last throe lasts for?
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Steve.
It was almost as though the Corps were playing Keep-Away with the Secretary. If one didn't know Mr. McClellan from Adam, one'd probably conclude that he was not only the stupidest person in the room, but perhaps the stupidest person in the entire city.
But of course, it's not stupidity that revs Scottie's engine, it's mendacity. Scottie lies, obfuscates, spins, propagandises with his every single word because were he to do otherwise, the President's popularity ratings would be lower than the already are.
Now, I know I sound like a broken fuckin' record here; but are you going to put up with this kind of shit from your public servants? Or are you going to refuse to pay your Federal Income Taxes?
For the record, here're the "remarks" that Scottie wanted us to "go back and look at":
I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency. We've had reporting in recent days, Larry, about Zarqawi, who's sort of the lead terrorist, outside terrorist, al Qaeda, head of al Qaeda for Iraq, may well have been seriously injured. We don't know. We can't confirm that. We've had reporting to that effect.So I think we're making major progress.
So, according to McClellan, via Cheney, the "metric" for "measuring the defeat of the insurgency" is that Zaraqawi "may well have been seriously injured". Yet, according to the latest assessment of the U.S. military (as noted above), Zarqawi is responsible for the "fantastic rise in the number of civilians killed".
So, as usual, the various players on Team Bush are unable to co-ordinate their lies effectively; resulting in the logical mishap known as "self-contradiction".
But here's a "metric" the American (ahem) taxpayer can understand:
On Monday, the House is scheduled to vote on a bill that would provide an additional $45 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a Pentagon spending measure for next year, war-funding that Bush hasn't requested.
Posted by Eddie Tews at June 17, 2005 06:54 PM
Comments
Lets play a game of "Who said dat?"
Who recently said:
"But the Iraqi people have shown, through their courage, that they are determined to meet their objectives. They face a determined and ruthless enemy that has no regard for human life."
Was it A) Osama Bin Laden; B) Scott McClellan; or C) Oprah? Shouldn't the fact that all three are plausible give us some pause? -- Posted by: Wink Martindale on June 24, 2005 10:32 AM