Hadley Ducks Question Over Whether Rumsfeld Suggestion Is ‘Cutting And Running’
Hadley Ducks Question Over Whether Rumsfeld Suggestion Is ‘Cutting And Running’
Today on NBC’s Meet the Press, host Tim Russert pointed out that Donald Rumsfeld’s recent memo on Iraq suggested a strategy of partial withdrawal. Russert asked National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley why, when others had raised this idea in the past, “they were accused by your White House of cutting and running.”
Hadley told Russert “maybe you misunderstand what the memo was about,” and downplayed Rumsfeld’s suggestion. Hadley claimed the memo was simply an effort by Rumsfeld to “broaden the debate,” and was “not a game plan or an effort to set out the way forward in Iraq.” Watch it:
Hadley is spinning. Rumsfeld’s memo is entitled, “Iraq — Illustrative New Courses of Action.” In it, Rumsfeld says “it is time for a major adjustment” and suggests a number of options that “could” or “should be done,” and partial withdraw is one of them. Hadley and the White House just don’t want to acknowledge that things have gotten so bad in Iraq that even Donald Rumsfeld is considering withdrawal.
Full transcript:
RUSSERT: One of the things that Donald Rumsfeld suggested was redeployment, taking U.S. troops out of Iraq, put them into Kuwait, surrounding areas. When the Democrats suggested that, they were accused by your White House of cutting and running.
HADLEY: I think that maybe you misunderstand what the memo was about. The President, as you know, before that day had called for a review of where we were heading in our approach forward in Iraq. It drew on work that had been started in a number of agencies in the government, and one of the things that the President said is. I want to look at new ideas. I want to have an open door to ideas and one thing that the Rumsfeld memo list represented was a laundry list of ideas that he considered, some he put above the line and some were below the line and it was to broaden the debate. It was a useful memo. This was not a game plan or an effort to set out the way forward in Iraq.
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50 Responses to “Hadley Ducks Question Over Whether Rumsfeld Suggestion Is ‘Cutting And Running’”
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asswipe
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:32 pmRut and cun, no matter how you dress and put lipstick on this pig, it still don’t fly
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:35 pmCome to think of it, this guy does remind me of Hedley Lamar! Or was it Hadley Lamarr?
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:36 pmDo these BushCo sycophants have any idea how much credibility they would gain if they just threw up their hands and said, “Yeah, we screwed up big, yanno? We had good intentions and when everything started to fall apart we were too stupid and proud to admit it. We couldn’t think on our feet because we have a rigid ideology that has no room for fault or mistakes.” These guys are all clinical.
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:40 pm#3: Come to think of it, this guy does remind me of Hedley Lamar! Or was it Hadley Lamarr?
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:45 pm- - His mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening thru a cosmic vapor of invention.
the entire foundation of bush’s presidency REQUIRES that we be at war… that’s the very point that almost everybody is missing… if we are NOT AT WAR, bush’s presidency collapses… his unlimited executive power claim, bolstered by the aumf, is considerably diminished, and he is left to fall back on the bogus “unitary executive” theory… announcement of a withdrawal from iraq would flash-cook bush’s goose and he knows it… without the cover of the aumf, the doors of every cupboard and closet filled with noxious bushco misdeeds and unconstitutional overrides would come popping open, and bush would have no choice but to resign… imho, he’s going to stay in iraq and keep his war on no matter what…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
December 3rd, 2006 at 3:58 pmthere, see? …what’d i tell ya? …wheeeeeee… oh… dizzy…
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:02 pmguy’s a creep…
These guy LIE NONSTOP
JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION.
re-deploy/ quick reaction force Murtha ::: coward cut and run
re-deploy/ quick reaction force Rumsfeld ::: great idea !!!
ITS THE MEDIAS JOB TO SAY THATS LIES, HYPOCRISY, SPECIOUS LOGIC etc.
DO YOUR JOB RUSSERT >>> YOU PUNKIN-HEADED REPUBLICAN PRESSWHORE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:03 pmHadley: “You and the American people are to stupid to grasp the subtlety of the rumsfeld genious.”
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:04 pmthe entire foundation of bush’s presidency REQUIRES that we be at war…
Comment by profmarcus — December 3, 2006 @ 3:58 pm
back in ‘04 i was talking to my brother, a CPA, about how important it was to NOT vote for dubya, to end the war, and he said, “well, unfortunately, wars are good for the economy”… i just turned and walked away, heartbroken… he has 4 sons, 10-17… i can’t talk to him now…
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:10 pm.
When will the media realize that they are being used and are going along with it?
Comment by Spudge_Boy — December 3, 2006 @ 4:06 pm
haha, when will you realize the media was in on it from day one ?
answer to both questions : never
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:14 pmand, badmoon, i heard twice this morning (was it timmy both times? maybe schieffer also?) when he gave the interviewee a chance to do just that, admit the mistakes… not a chance… just spinspinspin…
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:14 pmYes, you got it all wrong Tim. It’s not “cut and run”, Rumsfeld just wants to “get the F**k out of Iraq”. That is completely different. It’s called retreat for victory.
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:17 pmMister Death Squad Goes to Washington
by Ahmed Amr
[snip]
Al Hakim’s resume is truly impressive. He’s an Ayatollah and a son of an Ayatollah. He speaks fluent Farsi – having spent half his entire life living in exile as an honored guest of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. As a dedicated theocrat – he allied his sectarian legions of Iraqi exiles with the Iranian army in the Iran-Iraq war. It’s safe to assume that he puts his faith based political doctrines above his country – a trait he shares with his host.
To get a measure of the man, you need to see past Hakim’s wardrobe. This guy is more than a religious missionary. He’s certainly no ordinary politician. You can’t even consider him a military man – although he was the leader of the Badr Brigades – the military wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq – SCIRI. Still, he’s so much more than that. The source of his political clout is his control over the Shiite death squads that have infiltrated the American-trained security forces.
And there’s more to recommend this man for the task of getting “the job done.†The death squads under Al Hakim’s command aren’t your run of the mill assassins. They usually leave their signature on their victims before grinding them up. Al Hakim’s dedicated cadres like to drill holes in other people’s skulls before dumping the mutilated cadavers on Baghdad’s streets as a warning to any real or potential adversaries.
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:23 pmprofmarcus @7 is pretty much on the mark. Only thing I’d add is that when we look back at the BushCo. admin. since 2000, we have to remember that they cam into office after running against the “nation building” in Yugoslavia. In fact, Clinton had his hands tied to such a degree there that ground troops were completely out of the questions. When we finally moved against Miloshivec it was with airstrikes only.
I think we missed a real opportunity in Yugoslavia. If we had moved to stop the slaughter of the Srebrenica massacre, we would have actually earned some favor with the muslim world. Due to pressure from the DeLay wingnutery Clinton’s hands we’re tied.
When I think back to the pre-9/11 BushCo. I can’t remember much of anything that they did. He was lame as hell. 9/11 gave them a raison d’etre and they ran with it. They had the support of the whole world and they blew it. All we can hope for is that the utter failure that is BushCo. will cast a shadow over the repubs for many, many years.
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:26 pm…I’d like to broaden his aperture…wanker…
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:26 pmSeems like the MULTI-MEGA-MEMO-MOMENT from the Michael Moore´s Awful Truth.
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:27 pmhuh… crooks has the “mistakes” clip:
Russert grills Hadley on Bush’s Mistakes
By: John Amato @ 1:20 PM - PST
Timmeh asked Hadley why Bush just doesn’t come clean and admit his mistakes in an attempt to unify the country.
MR. RUSSERT: But in terms of trying to bring the country together, to bring Democrats—who now control Congress—to the table, could the president step forward and say, “I acknowledge we were wrong about WMD, we were wrong about troop levels, we were wrong about the length of the war, we were wrong about the cost of the war, we were wrong about the financing of the war, we were wrong about the level of sectarian violence, we were wrong about being greeted as liberators. We made some fundamental misjudgments, and they were wrong, but now we’re all in this together� Could he do that?
December 3rd, 2006 at 5:02 pm…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/ 2006/ 12/ 03/ russert-grills-hadley-on-bushs-mistakes/
Hadley sounded like the incompetent bafoon that he is. They rip the Democrats on withdrawal and then adopt their strategy. Hadley is another one that needs to be locked up.
December 3rd, 2006 at 5:29 pmWell well well , now they are in the level of explaining why did they screw up in explaining the reasons behind why did they screw a whole country under th sign of “giving people their deserved born right of freedom” yeasterday I was talking to Iraqi lady who lives in Baquoba north of baghdad , she said “in 2002 our bigest hope was just that my huspand’s income would cover the house untill the end of the month , in 2004 our bigest hopes were just electricity for at least 5-6 hours aday , clean water , fuel and food , now in 2006 our bigest hope is just to wake up in the morning without been visited by night ghosts and ending up in the morning as corps in side street with drilling holes in the head and chest , or geting sliced by car bomb in the near by market , or even ending up as “collateral damage ” by one of the US operations “
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:01 pmInsurgency should be doing better than this - average 2.47 per day
03-Dec-2006
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:29 pmUS NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile
02-Dec-2006
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Taji Baghdad Hostile
01-Dec-2006
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province
So frat boy cheerleader will use this memo as a “sort of a game plan” and the final decision from this “gameplan” will be “stay the course”.
“Impeach the cheerleader, save the world!”.
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:52 pmgood show! when I heard about Rummy’s memo, all I could think was that this was the very same logic that was getting Dems labeled as “cut and run” during campaign season… now he wants it to seem like it’s his idea, and because of that it’s now ok… unreal…
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:53 pmThis Administration can’t admit they screwed up. They have committed impeachable offenses. More troops will die because of their lies.
Hey Hey Dubya Yippee Kayay, How Many Troops Did Ya Kill Today?
If the true War hero’s (John Murtha)suggesstions were carried out over a year ago, we would be out of there by now.
Instead we have to live with Dictator George’s “stay the course” and how he sleeps at night is beyond me. But you just know that he sleeps like a baby at night. Dreaming of his Half A Trillion Dollar Library that will be nothing but a monument to how not to invade and occupy a country.
An Iraqi war memorial should be built on the gournds of this library so that everyone is reminded of the war criminal he is. An Iraqi civillian memorial should also be built here, so that everytime he visits his library, he is reminded of the hundreds of thousdands of innocent Iraqi’s that died.
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:00 pmIdeas, ideas, “ideas. On or below the line” (?).
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:21 pmNow, what the f… does that mean?
They know NOTHING about ideas.
Basically clueless to the “end”.
Bush has reached the 2,900 milestone of US troop deaths in Iraq.
-GSD
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:02 pmwhat a douchebag.
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:16 pmA “must read.” We can all see that this is the case. There is an ancient Greek saying: “Those who the gods would destroy first drive mad.”
When Denial Goes Pathological
Is President Bush Sane?
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts12022006.html
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:25 pmThis article in Counterpunch should ring a bell as well. Appears Maliki is learning some very undemocratic behavior from our very own “overreacher.” Please read this…and keep in mind that Bush constantly says our troops are fighting (dying) to bring democracy and freedom to Iraq.
By-Passing the Elected Iraqi Government
Maliki’s Monopoly of Power
http://www.counterpunch.org/jarrar12022006.html
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:34 pmWithout nepotism, cronyism and a$$-kissing, most of these losers would not even have mential jobs.
And that includes Russert, Matthews, and their lot of inept journalists.
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:43 pmWhy doesn’t Steve Hadley just go and change his last name from Hadley to Bush. It’s quite obvious that he is George Bush Sr.’s love child from an affair behind Ma Barker Bush’s back.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:19 pmHe looks, sounds and acts more like Bush Sr. than any of his legitimate children do.
Seems like there is evidence, albeit hearsay so far, that Bush knew Webb’s son was almost killed when he made that how’s your boy crack to him:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/3/202133/415
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:40 pmThere is not enough space in the fema detention camps to lock up all those deluded water carriers for the greatest ‘delusionist of grandeur’ ever. Those guys make the Germans feel better about their own brown history…
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:45 pmIt isn`t cut and run with the “politically correct” repubs.
It is “cease and desist”.
Or this old favorite from days gone by,”Leave all of the equipment behind,we`ll make more,shoot I aint payin fer it”
Better yet,”Let`s go home now boys,me and my buddies made more money in this place than half the country could have ever made in a lifetime,the Iraqi`s?They`ll mend,they have for centuries,they are like cattle,you have to thin the herd sometimes.Thanks for your support”
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:29 pmPlaying Gotcha with Stephen Hadley…
Tim Russert plays a great game of Gotcha with Stephen Hadley over the Rumsfeld memo. It works so brilliantly because it relies on the viewer not having the slightest clue that he is conflating two things that are not the same. Think Progress didn’t no…
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:42 pmThere is not enough space in the fema detention camps to lock up all those deluded water carriers for the greatest ‘delusionist of grandeur’ ever.
I remember when Clinton was president and a couple of old republicans came up to me and started explaining how Clinton had camps set up. They saw Barb wire in the New York subway and knew that was where they were headed. He had a plan for the Arab nations to take over the U.S. and the graffiti on the back of street signs was actually roadmaps for their convoys to take.
I kind of thought he was a little out there, but it’s good to see it happens on both sides of that fence.
December 4th, 2006 at 1:31 amOut of curiosity I read Rumsfeld’s memo and I was shocked and angered.
December 4th, 2006 at 1:45 amWhat angered me is that I thought his suggestions were intelligent and much needed. What especially angered me is that this is what should have been done two years ago.
Please do not think I supported us invading Iraq in the first place. I didn’t. It has turned out just as I thought it would. However, if you read Rumsfeld’s memo there are some surprizingly good suggestions.
It’s Time to Declare War on Iraq
December 4th, 2006 at 8:00 amNever mind the civil war debate — the real question is why didn’t the U.S. make a war declaration in the first place? That could bring an end to something that never should have been started
Why Not Invade Vietnam Too?
by Jacob G. Hornberger, December 1, 2006
Amidst all the comparisons of the Vietnam War with the occupation of Iraq, people seem to be ignoring an important question: Why not invade Vietnam too?
After all, everyone knows that Vietnam is not a democracy. In fact, unlike Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial regime in Iraq, the Vietnam dictatorship is communist, and as U.S. officials reminded us throughout the Vietnam War, communists are committed to burying America. Moreover, let’s not forget that the Vietnamese communists killed almost 60,000 American men — that is, many more Americans than Saddam ever killed and, in fact, 20 times the number of Americans killed on 9/11.
Wouldn’t an invasion of Vietnam not only spread democracy in that country but also avenge the deaths of tens of thousands of American men?
So why was President Bush recently visiting Vietnam and shaking hands with its communist dictators instead of leading a U.S. invasion force into Vietnam in his capacity as commander in chief?
By shaking hands and partying with the Vietnamese communist dictators, Bush was implicitly conceding that the issue of regime change in Vietnam properly lies with the Vietnamese people, not with the U.S. government. By his actions, he was saying that the U.S. government would have no more right to invade Vietnam and liberate the Vietnamese people than the Vietnamese government would have to invade the United States to liberate the American people. Regime change — whether through the ballot box or through violent revolution — properly lies with the citizenry of each particular country, not with foreign governments, especially since the price of such regime change is oftentimes extraordinarily high in terms of death and destruction, as the people of Iraq have involuntarily discovered.
Bush’s refusal to invade Vietnam is not much different from how U.S. presidents treated Eastern Europe during the Cold War. As miserable as the citizens of Eastern Europe were after U.S. officials delivered them into the clutches of the Soviet communists at the end of World War II, the issue of violent regime change properly lay with the Eastern Europeans, not with the U.S. government. They chose peaceful means, even though it took almost half a century to throw off the shackles of Soviet tyranny. Who is to say that Eastern Europeans would have been better off with a U.S. invasion that would have killed hundreds of thousands of them and left Eastern Europe a wasteland?
Why did Bush invade Iraq rather than travel to Baghdad and shake hands with Saddam, as U.S. envoy Donald Rumsfeld did during the 1980s on behalf of the U.S. government, and as Bush himself recently did with the Vietnamese communist dictators?
The answer lies in a very simple fact: U.S. presidents use their standing army, which loyally and obediently follows presidential orders, to attack weak and relatively defenseless Third World countries, such as Panama, Grenada, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and only when U.S. casualties are expected to be low. With Iraq as with Vietnam, it’s obvious that they simply miscalculated a bit.
As the Iraq debacle continues to spiral downward, sucking ever-growing numbers of people into its death throes, all too many Americans continue to judge the invasion and occupation of Iraq by how many U.S. troops have been killed. But from a moral standpoint, Americans should also be asking themselves two important questions: (1) Under what moral or legal authority did the U.S. government invade Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process? and (2) If the U.S. government invaded Iraq to spread freedom and democracy, as U.S. officials maintain, why is it cozying up to such totalitarian regimes as the communist dictatorship in Vietnam?
AS IVE SAID ALL ALONG URAQ WAS DISSARMED BY THE UN AFTER THE GULF WAR _ BRIATAIN AND AMERICA ATTACKED A WEAK COUNTRY THAT MAKES BRITAIN AND AMERICA IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD MURDERING COWARDS THIEFS
December 4th, 2006 at 8:05 amIn his comments, Hadley also asserted that the US expected to have the support and force of 200-300,000 of the Iraqi military after the overthrow of Saddam.
Yet, according to Woodward’s Book, “State of Denial,” the White House and NSC had approved and was pushing a policy of de-Baathification which required that anyone connected to the Baath party to be removed from power.
Someone’s lying here.
December 4th, 2006 at 10:09 amSeems like this would have been a perfect opportunity for Timmeh to look at Hadley and sanp, “That’s NOT what I asked you.”
December 4th, 2006 at 1:23 pmIt is silly to assume that the administration did have a time table. But a strategic play to start demanding one knowing that the administration cannot show its hand. Then when one is implemented they @#$%bag left can say see I told you so!
They want their power back and do not care if they take our country down to get it.
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