Warner: Since I Said ‘Things Are Going Sideways’ In Iraq, There’s Been An ‘Exponential Increase’ In Violence
Warner: Since I Said ‘Things Are Going Sideways’ In Iraq, There’s Been An ‘Exponential Increase’ In Violence
After visiting Iraq earlier this month, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner said the country is “drifting sideways” and several parts of Iraq have taken “steps backwards.” “In two or three months if this thing hasn’t come to fruition and this level of violence is not under control,” Warner said, “I think it’s a responsibility of our government to determine: Is there a change of course we should take?”
Today, Warner said he stands by his previous statements, and he added that “one week out” from his trip, there has been an “exponential increase in the killings and the savagery that’s going on over there.”
Transcript:
SCHIEFFER: Alright, let’s go quickly now to Iraq. You came back from Iraq, Senator Warner, and said we’re going “sideways” there. And if things don’t improve we’re going to have to rethink our policy. What does that mean?
WARNER: It means just exactly what that statement is, and I stand by it. you cannot see – you can see some movement forward, but a lot of movement back. As we are sitting here today, one week out of my trip there, the exponential increase in the killings and the savagery that’s going on over there.
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October 15th, 2006 at 12:06 pmTo quote Steve Martin in the classic ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’, “Do ya think so?”
October 15th, 2006 at 12:11 pmGWB will be happy Warner has finally accepted responsibility for causing things to go so badly in Iraq.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:12 pmIn other news, Weldon (R-PA) is being investigated, who knew?
October 15th, 2006 at 12:13 pmhttp://www.poodlecrap.com/Hateliars/HL_Video1.asp?Part=0
here’s some good stuff
October 15th, 2006 at 12:26 pmWingnuts will claim that the increase in violence is because Sen. Warner made his statement that things are drifting sideways. In other words, according to their deranged mindset, any criticism of Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq will cause the insurgents to increase their attacks, since they obviously spend most of their time reading liberal blogs for instructions.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:32 pmI’ve always wondered how the nazis murdered over 6 millon people, while people just sat back and watched. “What were they thinking”?. I would wonder. Now I see how there are sick idiots can fool folks. “sideways”?. Come on.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:34 pmSay what you want about Warner, but I’ll take it.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:45 pmThese phonies have been saying ‘the next three months’ since May 2003.
Do you really think Warner is going to stand up to our dear Dictator?
October 15th, 2006 at 12:51 pmDidn’t he back down on torture?
#9 I agreee. He will a mccain and flip flop.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:57 pmany criticism of Bush’s conduct of the war in Iraq will cause the insurgents to increase their attacks, since they obviously spend most of their time reading liberal blogs for instructions.
Comment by Goebbels — October 15, 2006 @ 12:32 pm
Especially since, according to the neocon nutjobs, we are an extremely small protion of the liberal minority.
As usual, their fallacious logic is as transparent as their hair pieces…
October 15th, 2006 at 12:57 pmBingo, I agree with you. Warner has a lot of respect and clout in the Senate, but when it comes down to the end result, he will side with Bush&Co. If the Dems take control in November, we may see some of these “moderate” republicans whistle a different tune, but at this time, all I see is rhetoric aimed at helping the party retain power through the campaign, and then back to business as usual after that.
October 15th, 2006 at 12:59 pmJohn Roberts on CNN, just headlined “is (Korea) Clinton’s fault. Plant the seeds here and there and people will water them and make the lies grow.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:01 pmI’m told by very reliable people in DC that Warner was put up to this by the White House to prepare the country for a change in policy. Jim Baker has been brought in to “fix” this mess in the Middle East. He is doing it because of his close friendship with ‘41. Yet again, for the umpteenth time, someone has to bail Chimpy’s sorry ass out of a mess–this time a GRANDE mess. This is to save face because, as we all know, the Bush family never admits to being wrong.
When I worked on the Hill we used to call Warner “Senator Stupid”–however, he as fallen to #3 on that list–ahead of him is Inhoffe and Norm Coleman. Warner has never had an original thought in his life. I will say this much for him, he is a gentleman, just not a very bright one.
Don’t be fooled though–this is just the Administration desperately trying to save their asses.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:13 pmBingo is right. Warner talks a good game, but in the end he’ll cave to the party line.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:14 pmThe Bush invasion and occupation of the independent country of Iraq is imperial neocolonial aggression, no more, no less. It has all been illegal and criminal since day one. The so-called “shock and awe” was a massive act of terrorism. War is thousands of acts of terror, strung together.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice are all international war criminals, they should be rounded up and shipped off to the International Court in The Hague, Netherlands for their trials.
Cheers.
P.S. what just happened to the font size in the TP Comments section?
October 15th, 2006 at 1:16 pmShrinkage or just a blip?
What goes around, comes around according to the old adage. History repeats itself according to another. In one particular case it took 230 years for one King George to be replaced by another pseudo King George. May their end be the same, brought about by the American people and their Declaration of Independence. We must start another revolutionary war against tyranny. Add your name to the
Second Declaration of Independence
October 15th, 2006 at 1:27 pmWhy does John Warner hate our freedom, bring comfort to our enemies, coddle Osama bin Laden, side with the terrorists, and want to cut and run? (Does that cover all of them?)
October 15th, 2006 at 1:30 pmWarner has been a rubber-stamper, even on torture. He likes to give an illusion of there being oversite. Only the evangelicals buy their crap.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:47 pmI went over to Drudge’s sight to see what he was selling today (I feel like one does when they step in dogshit) and he has something up about bird-flu in OHIO–I know this is off-topic, but could this be the “October surprise”? I don’t trust this crew in the White House at all. Does anyone have any knowledge of this supposed bird flu problem?
Even if we did have a problem, I would vote.
October 15th, 2006 at 1:51 pmWell, come on now, show Warner’s whole piece–he goes on to pretty much support continuing the war in Iraq so that the government gets established, so that Iraq oil doesn’t fund terrorism, etc. It looks like he’s heading towards supporting an increase in troops rather than redeployment. This is an example of only showing part of a clip to get out of it just what you want.
October 15th, 2006 at 2:18 pmQdog,Marie and Zooey:
Thank you.
October 15th, 2006 at 2:25 pmHmmm. I thought going to hell in a handbasket involved verticality somehow… Hmmm.
October 15th, 2006 at 2:30 pmjks – the font size is usually controlled by a cascading style sheet.
October 15th, 2006 at 2:32 pmIt has to be intentional, since it has been called out by almost every regular as not just an inconvenience, but a show stopper for those of us who are sight impaired.
’sconset
October 15th, 2006 at 2:34 pmInteresting that in yesterdays Seattle Times an article about crows and other birds in King County have been identified as having West Nile virus.
Nothing other than that…
#24 RUCerious, and here we were just getting used to being able to see what we’re posting! Oh, well, I needed new glasses anyway…
October 15th, 2006 at 2:57 pmThese phonies have been saying ‘the next three months’ since May 2003.Comment by Bingo! — October 15, 2006 @ 12:51 pm
October 15th, 2006 at 3:21 pmWow, such the good point… I remember so many people saying the “window is closing” and ” the next three months will determine the outcome of this” I guess the whole program will have to Sh!t the bed for people to say“Hay, I thought we were winning this? What happened? Whend did we lose the War?”
What did Rob Cordray say? “Jon, You are cupping Osama’s Balls, Jon,,,, Cupping Osama’s Balls”. At least Warner is trying… He is moving from Denial to acceptance…
October 15th, 2006 at 3:26 pmWhat would be worse than it is now if we pulled up stakes and left Iraq next week? Would Shiia continue torturing and murdering Sunnis? Would Sunnis continue torturing and murdering Shiia? of course they would. Would American soldiers stop dying? Of course they would.
A Chinese general wrote over 1400 years ago in The Art of War , “Never attack an enemy whose culture, religion or history you do not know.”
He was right and as I type we have 2,763 dead American soldiers killed by an idiot’s folly with more to come.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:28 pmSun Tzu
October 15th, 2006 at 3:32 pmRUCerious, and here we were just getting used to being able to see what we’re posting! Oh, well, I needed new glasses anyway…
Comment by JaneESchneider
Dont know if this can help but: Go to the top of the navigator page and click View. Then go to Text Size or Font Size (I have it in spanish so I dont know what it says in english) and take the size to a higher level.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:35 pmJust round up the suspects and torture them. It’ll be ok.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:38 pmSun Tzu, “Art of War”
All warfare is based on deception.
#[The truth of this pithy and profound saying will be admitted by every soldier. Col. Henderson tells us that Wellington, great in so many military qualities, was especially distinguished by "the extraordinary skill with which he concealed his movemen ts and deceived both friend and foe."]
# Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
# Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
[All commentators, except Chang Yu, say, "When he is in disorder, crush him." It is more natural to suppose that Sun Tzu is still illustrating the uses of deception in war.]
# If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
# If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
[Wang Tzu, quoted by Tu Yu, says that the good tactician plays with his adversary as a cat plays with a mouse, first feigning weakness and immobility, and then suddenly pouncing upon him.]
# If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.
[This is probably the meaning though Mei Yao-ch`en has the note: "while we are taking our ease, wait for the enemy to tire himself out." The YU LAN has "Lure him on and tire him out."]
If his forces are united, separate them.
[Less plausible is the interpretation favored by most of the commentators: "If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them."]
# Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
# These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
# Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.
#The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to w in or lose.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:47 pmWhen you wake up on Nov. 8, and the Dems once again failed to gain power in any branch of government, you will need to understand where you failed.
All this talk of Foley, Iraq, etc., and the deafening silence given to poverty, Katrina victims, leaves Americans with NO alternatives to the Republican Party.
God Bless.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:52 pm#31, Thanks, Juan, Wayne suggested the same thing. When I clicked on ‘Larger’, the font got so big I had to sit back! (’Medium’ size didn’t do much.)
October 15th, 2006 at 3:53 pmIt’s hard to accomplish our goals in Iraq, because we went in without any. Of course things are going all sideways and crazy.
October 15th, 2006 at 3:56 pmMy apologies for the long blog but the point is…
That there was a lot of planning on the shelves for years; about Iraq. The military had done endless studies and reviews for years about Iraq. The first thing Rumsfeld did was throw all that research and study, OUT THE WINDOW!!!
So… as I like to say, “The Fish Rots From The Head Down”…
Yes, Rumsfeld is Insane but he is not the Boss……
Ask yourself this: “If Rumsfeld was gone and we had a God in there for Secretary of Defense, would things be any different with Bush and Cheney Still calling the Shots at the Top?”
This is all Bush’s fault… He should have known that he couldn’t handle being President…
As they say though,”You can’t know what you don’t know.”
and… “I don’t even know enough to know, that I don’t know.”
Finally…
The terrorists and insurgents are doing exactly what Sun Tzu said and We are not doing what he said…
Bin Laden read up on Ho Chi Min and HO Chi Min read on Sun Tzu so lets understand that….
#1)Hold out baits to entice the enemy.
#2)If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
#3)If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.
#4)If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.
#5)Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
Finally….
“The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to Win or Lose.”
When we Lose Iraq, I want everyone to remember that it wasn’t from bad planning, or bad intelligence; It was from bad execution and bad management. The President of the United Stated failed us in Iraq.
October 15th, 2006 at 4:17 pmKeep your blessings, Jason.
You’re worried.
October 15th, 2006 at 4:17 pmJason M. Hendler,
Lets not count all your chickens quite yet.
October 15th, 2006 at 4:20 pmIraq would be a great country, the war an easier conflict to conclude, if the friggin Iraqis weren’t there. Now all the US has to figure out, is how to get all the Iraqis to disappear.
Oh … wait … nevermind …
October 15th, 2006 at 4:22 pmJason, #34 “All this talk of Foley, Iraq, etc., and the deafening silence given to poverty, Katrina victims, leaves Americans with NO alternatives to the Republican Party.” You’re so full of shit, just like the rest of the Republican party, and Americans are going to vote your stinking party out because they’re tired of the smell. Go ahead and sleep in on 11/8, your trolling job will no longer be necessary.
Everyone else, enjoy the rest of the day!
October 15th, 2006 at 4:35 pmHey Jane! Why not tell us how you really feel? :)
October 15th, 2006 at 4:38 pm#37 – ren,
October 15th, 2006 at 4:46 pmDid you not ever to hear of the Peter Principle? – “Everyone will rise to their own level of incompetence.” W has been able to do it, five, maybe six times. At best, he is capable of cleaning the rest rooms at a West Virginia rest stop. The only money that he would have to manage would be the pennies that he picked from the urinals.
#43
October 15th, 2006 at 4:57 pmI was thinking more the guy who empties out the can and bottle return machines,, otherwise MAYBE you could put him on pushing shopping carts… I pushed carts back in high school and that would be the perfect job for him, even now…
P.S. Ever see the movie “Gummo” the part where the boys are in the rain repeatedly shooting the already dead cat that is laying on the ground… I think of Bush every time
Bye the by, the Dilbert Principle may apply here, but W is an aberrance on even this.
October 15th, 2006 at 4:58 pmDilbert Principle, thats funny.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:17 pm#46 – pm,
October 15th, 2006 at 5:19 pmIt’s not funny when you consider the current “State of the Union”.
PN s/b ForTruth.You probably do a better job than Tony Blair. Sorry – too quick with the cut and paste.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:22 pmJane…
Try pasting this:
javascript:var fontsize=’13px’,x,y=0,z=document.getElementsByTagName(’li’);while(x=z[y++])x.style.fontSize=fontsize;void(0);
…into the address bar, and saving it as a favorite, named, oh, “TP Fontsize Bump” or something similar. Then just load it as needed. You can change the fontsize variable to suit (the CSS spec for the site appears to be ‘12px’).
Hope that helps.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:23 pmOh, damn…first load that string of code into Notepad, then replace the slanted single quotes with single vertical ones from the keyboard. Use that version instead.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:30 pm#50 – cynic,
October 15th, 2006 at 5:37 pmIt would be nice if TP turned off ’smart quotes’ in the comments section.
Anyone else agree that TP has the most ignorant and angry trolls on the blogosphere? Anyone else looking forward to Dems taking control of Congress so they can eat some troll crow?
October 15th, 2006 at 5:42 pmRobG,
You’re probably right. I think it’s because of the open comments. Much as I like the idea of open comments, after having an idiot like “hellpig” around last night, stealing everyone’s names, I’d be open to password protecting our names. It takes no effort whatsoever for those trolls to comment here, maybe that’s why they show up.
I think they’re getting worried.
October 15th, 2006 at 5:50 pmHendler must be counting on Diebold to save the GOP. Either that or a phony terrorist scare, or maybe even a staged terrorist attack.
October 15th, 2006 at 6:26 pmI hope the GOP retains control of the house and senate. They’ve made this gigantic mess. Let them clean it up.
October 15th, 2006 at 6:32 pmWarner, btw (kudos to ’sconset for his excellent comment upthread) is a befuddled old man; probably suffered irreversible brain damage from Big Liz (Taylor) bouncing off of him.
If you’d care to read something substantive about Iraq, try this latest from Michael Schwartz, posted at tomdispatch.org.
October 15th, 2006 at 6:58 pm#56. Thanks cynic for your kind words. I worked on the Hill for 12 years and I saw plenty. Off topic a bit–but what is wrong with the font on this site? If the type gets any smaller, we’ll need to learn braille.
This bunch of clowns had better figure some way out of Iraq and soon. As of tonight there are 2,765 americans dead in Iraq.
If I could ask Bush, Cheney or Rumsfield one question, it would be: How are you able to sleep at night? These people do not have a conscience, I guess.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:15 pmHey, you’re welcome. Look above for a favelet to help with the legibility issue.
Great Bill Maher rant here in case you’re interested. And stop giving Drudge hits! I’ll smack you!
October 15th, 2006 at 7:41 pmJuan C-
October 15th, 2006 at 9:04 pmThanks ( I’m a web developer)
I know the text size menu selection, when used in IE it blows the next font size up to what looks like a 24 point! Way huge.
These folks ought to set their css to the same font size used in the articles.
Then place a 300 char limit.!
WebFont sizes.
iam using KMELON a verient of FIREFOX
Font size can be changed using “Crt” and “+”.
Dump IE its useless
October 15th, 2006 at 9:49 pmWarner must have looked down and discovered a small, old, shriveled walnut between those two, wrinkly, white-haired thighs. Don’t know how long it will take Bush and Cheney to crack it, but it probably won’t be long. They already cracked the other one when they got him to compromise on torture and the suspension of habeus corpus.
October 15th, 2006 at 10:02 pm(Also, he’s not offering anything concrete. He’s talking two or three months down the road. In the meantime, two more American troops died today.)
Sideways!!!!!
After 3 plus years 600,000 plus dead, a failed state, $ 2 trillion in cost is called sideways. More lies from the GOP rubber-stampers. We have the biggest failure in US History and Warner wants to say things are going sideways. My toilet is not mounted on the wall.
October 15th, 2006 at 10:26 pmZoo,
No worries here, the Rep voter based did not fail in CA-50, and they will not fail on Nov. 7.
First the Clintons, then the Progs, have gutted the Dem party of any viable candidates / policies, so you won’t hold power for a long, long time. If, by some fluke, you achieve a thin majority in the House, you will merely serve to remind the nation why Dems shouldn’t hold power, and kill the chances for any Dem candidate in 2008 presidential bid.
To cite an example, how is it, in a blue state like CA, that you can’t field a candidate that can beat an Austrian-born body-builder-turned-actor?
October 15th, 2006 at 11:09 pm#63 Rep voters need more war? more corruption? more PED? Whatever evil your Rep leader are, you will vote for them. Why you hate America?
October 16th, 2006 at 1:11 am[...] Sen. John Warner (R-VA), one of the President Bush’s staunchest allies, now says we are moving “sideways” and “backwards” in Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) agrees and says we need to find a way out. [...]
October 16th, 2006 at 3:25 pm[...] Bush’s message to Maliki also ignores the advice from U.S. leaders from across the ideological spectrum — including Rep. John Murtha, Sens. Jack Reed, John Warner, Chuck Hagel to former Secretaries of State James Baker and Colin Powell — that staying the course is not an option and Iraq’s leaders need to take responsibility. [...]
October 17th, 2006 at 10:50 am[...] Bush’s message to Maliki also ignores the advice from U.S. leaders from across the ideological spectrum — including Rep. John Murtha, Sens. Jack Reed, John Warner, Chuck Hagel to former Secretaries of State James Baker and Colin Powell — that staying the course is not an option and Iraq’s leaders need to take responsibility. [...]
October 18th, 2006 at 10:38 am