Maybe we should make decisions about the war based on a game of poker.

PAGE 40
An impatient Rumsfeld wanted the first formal presentation on the Iraq war plan from Franks thee days later on December 4 [2001] at the Pentagon. [snip] Franks began by saying that in the short period of time all he had been able to do was tinker with Op Plan 1003. He now had it trimmed down to a force level of 400,000 over 6 months, having cut 100,000 and one month from the base plan.

It may be helpful in defining ‘the articles’ if others at TP could join and amass/expand the list of failures. An extensive, cohesive, and irrefutable list of failures could be a useful tool for (1) developing articles of impeachment, (2) identifying traits we do not want (read — selecting) our own party leaders, (3) helping to defeat the incompetent in this years elections.

FAILURE to understand the history of the Iraq peoples and that it is impossible to get the factions to agree on just about anything.

FAILURE to understand that a KURD (mostly Sunni believing), Sunni, and Shia majority would select a constitution in line with fundemental Islam, more repressive than that even under Saddam.

FAILURE to recognize that you cannot run a empire on “democracy” building.

FAILURE to recognize that unless there is structure and economy, no nation, free or conquered, can stand.

FAILURE to convince Russia and China that IRAN is a threat (in other words shun their own pretroleum interests).

FAILURE to do a risk assesment of foreign polocy decisions (i.e. what increases terrorism…what decreases terrorism)

FAILURE to negotiate with any other country in good faith.

FAILURE to deal fairly with any democratically elected government, that does not align itself with the US neocon philosophy.

FAILURE to have the humility to listen to experts in any field before promoting a political view.

FAILURE to promote competence above loyalty and cronyism.

FAILURE to understand the difference between defending the US Constitution and defending the President and his crony administration.

FAILURE to understand how breaches in torture definition can deteriorate the all of world’s treatment of prisoners.

This list could go on ad infinitum, but some of us humans must sleep from time to time.

The Bush administration’s treatment of Shinseki had the effect of silencing others in the chain of command who agreed with him

Good, something needs to be done about these self serving “experts” who are undermining the war effort. There’s a time and a place for criticism and consultation and it’s not during a war and on the public airways

Indeed and look at how well Post war Iraq is doing.

“Our working budgetary assumption was that 90 days after completion of the operation, we would withdraw the first 50,000 and then every 30 days we’d take out another 50,000 until everybody was back. ( Planning for Postwar Iraq as ordered by Rumsfield)
Thomas E. White – Former secretary of the Army

Not to worry.

US Military Support for the president in down from 64% to 53%. Officer support is rported to be higher at 75% which is extrodrinarly low.

• FAILURE to guard any of the nine nuclear dumps in the country. The cesium and strontium that was there is now in the hands of hostiles. Thanks, George!

• FAILURE to guard Al Qa-qa and other munitions dumps, releasing 380 TONS of Semtek and other high-explosives — which are now blowing our soldiers out of their shoes, along with a lot of civilians every day.

• FAILURE to guard 450 shoulder-fired missiles, which are now in the hands of hostiles.

• FAILURE to guard the National Museum, the National Library, the Koran-Torah Repository, the mosques, the lives (Geneva Conventions, UN charter) and the property of civilians (Hague Conventions).

• FAILURE to find WMD after saying that they had absolute proof of their existence.

• FAILURE to armor our troops (responsible for 1/4 of the troop deathtoll, according to Army War College, those damn liberals).

• FAILURE to tell the truth to the American people and their Congress.

• FAILURE to tell the truth to the UN, and the troops.

• FAILURE to deploy sufficient troops to quell violence.

• FAILURE to uphold the UN charter by establishing illegal permanent airbases in a sovereign UN country by violent invasion.

• FAILURE to guard the country on Nine-eleven.

• FAILURE to guard the Pentagon with ANYTHING other than Rumsfeld’s shrugs.

• FAILURE to guard the Capitol, though luckily a USAF hero shot down the airliner headed that way.

• FAILURE to capture Bin Laden, even though he was cornered at Tora Bora.

• FAILURE to dismantle the Taliban.

• FAILURE to guard the national treasury, by an ENDLESS SERIES OF UTTERLY ILLEGAL WAR PROFITERING.

• FAILURE to protect the Constitution, the guaranteed rights of citizens, and the legal right to vote.

Right-I will want to get started on that punchlist of his own lies, and stop waving his few ounces of man-meat in everyone’s faces like he is the only true male of the species. Get over it, kid. You’re an impotent supporter of traitors.

Comment by unbelievable

I tried real hard not to say that. But baby, it was slow and right down the middle of the plate!

Two Marines in the first days were ordered in full battlegear across an irrigation ditch, without either of the safety lines required in such a maneuver (and I am told the manual requires the stripping of heavy gear). They disappeared from sight in seconds, and the unit spent the rest of the day searching downstream for their bodies. THAT WAS RUMSFELD’S FAULT, and there is a lot more.

In Afghanistan, Rumsfeld put 1,500 troops in to get Bin Laden at Tora Bora. FIFTEEN HUNDRED! That’s not enough to form a decent PX, much less to attack bunkers and tunnels WE helped build. So they let him escape, oohrah.

But then again, Rumsfeld renegotiated NORAD’s standing orders in such a way that there was no air defense for the Pentagon. For that alone he should be strung up by his thumbs, nevermind all the civilians he got killed in NYC.

Comment by I-RIGHT-I — April 16, 2006 @ 3:51 pm

So much for being nice on Easter Sunday…

The Generals, according to this theory of Myers, are like other Bushies and the Republicans. They just lie when they don’t have the facts on hand.

If that were true of Shinseki, then what does it say about Myers himself: Maybe he (Myers) just made up that as an excuse this morning when pressed on the issue!!.

Comment by Jack

As a Liberal Fuckwit and Democrat I guess you should know.

Good, something needs to be done about these self serving “experts” who are undermining the war effort. There’s a time and a place for criticism and consultation and it’s not during a war and on the public airways.