Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) Calls Kennedy’s Iraq Escalation Bill ‘A Good Idea’
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) Calls Kennedy’s Iraq Escalation Bill ‘A Good Idea’
Today, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) said Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-MA) new legislation requiring the president to gain congressional authority before escalating the Iraq war is “a good idea.” “The more the Congress can be involved in the decision making, the better,” Smith told CNN. (Read more about the Kennedy bill here.)
Watch it:
Smith has called Bush’s Iraq policy “criminal,” a “dereliction,” and “deeply immoral.”
Transcript:
BASH: But the President can no longer rely on a GOP firewall of support. Republican Senator Gordon Smith, recently soured on the war, tells CNN he thinks Kennedy’s idea for a new congressional authorization is a good one.
SMITH: But he more the Congress can be involved in the decision making, the better — and that is what the American people are asking for; they are going to hold us accountable then let’s have the tools of accountability so we can be held responsible.
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Support is building, add yours:
http://www.tedkennedy.com/page/s/ourdecision
January 9th, 2007 at 5:24 pmIt would seem the rats are leaving the USS G W Bush before it sinks and takes their political offices with it.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:28 pmthe rats are jumping ship like… well…
January 9th, 2007 at 5:30 pmPerhaps a new cottage industry will spring up.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:33 pmrat swimming lessons!
check out these TP links… this guy seems to be all over the place…
January 9th, 2007 at 5:37 pmwell, back and forth, anyway… how to take him serious?…
http://thinkprogress.org/?s=gordon+smith
Yes, take us out of dictatorship please.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:42 pm@4 LOL, rat swimming lessons
January 9th, 2007 at 5:50 pm#5
Maybe Smith is the new McCain, a “maverick” whose function is to pretend that Bush hass opposition within his own party. When it comes down to the vote, watch carefully. If Smith follows through, it would be a sign that the rethugs are fed up with Bush, and won’t let him destroy the party further. If not, we are back to buisiness as usual, which is the more likely scenario. There aren’t enough Republicans who can’t be bribed or frightened into supporting the chimp (excuse, me I mean Cheney) to let the house defunding effort happen.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:58 pmThank you for the link, stonehinge.
I added my name and comment.
Everyone here on TP should really do the same, because it’s looking like they aren’t going to take the bill seriously.
Enough signatures and we can turn that around.
Again, kudos, stonehinge
January 9th, 2007 at 6:03 pmThanks stonehinge, #1
January 9th, 2007 at 6:12 pmThey just got three more signers from this location.
Anyone see this: A draft of President Bush’s Iraq policy speech says the aim is to have Iraqi forces in control of all security by November and for extra U.S troops to deploy by the end of this month, a U.S. official tells CNN.
Theresa
January 9th, 2007 at 6:17 pmOfficial: First wave of troops to Iraq by Jan. 31
Responsibility for security shifts to Iraqis by November, another says
WASHINGTON – The latest draft of the new strategy for Iraq that President will Bush will lay out Wednesday calls for an increase of more than 20,000 troops, with most going to Baghdad and 4,000 to Anbar province, one senior official said Tuesday.
The first wave of additional U.S. troops will go into Iraq before the end of the month under Bush’s revised plan, said the official, who requested anonymity because the plans have not yet been announced.
The plan also calls for responsibility for security for all the country’s provinces to be turned over to Iraqi forces by November, said another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Bush is due to unveil his plan in a speech Wednesday evening.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:22 pmtotally for this, a statement of record at this time on where your representative / senator stands on this key issue of our time….it’s the minimum we should get from them.
no hiding, no posturing, no paper tiger threats, no ‘politics’, you are for it or against it and state your reasons.
richb
January 9th, 2007 at 6:27 pmMore horse puckey. They need the troops to guarantee access to the oil fields for Exxon et.al. In November there will be no Iraqi military to take control. If Congress goes for this, it will be entirely up to the people of the United States to overthrow this faux government and its un-elected leader.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:27 pmFor a man (and I use the term loosely) who believes that elections are irrefutable mandates from the people, he sure isn’t very good at following them…
I don’t know how much clearer our message to him could possibly be. Even in the middle of Impeachment hearings, he still won’t get it…
January 9th, 2007 at 6:40 pmI thought the 110th congress was the one you voted in last November. Is it possible the reason we are talking about escalation and not withdrawl, is that it is probably not a good idea to withdraw the troops. Otherwise, the party you elected to govern, would be making it happen.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pm“The more the Congress can be involved in the decision making, the better,†Smith told CNN.
Might they finally be getting the picture that they are an EQUAL branch to the Executive?
We can only hope…
January 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pmAs the trolls may agree, I think this is a good idea not so much because of Bush, Presidents come and go, but to take our country back from outside influences, if we are gonna be the worlds police force then we, the people should decide, as a whole, when and where we deploy our forces, democratic style.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:44 pmSupport is building, add yours:
http://www.tedkennedy.com/page/s/ourdecision
Comment by stonehinge — January 9, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
Done!
January 9th, 2007 at 6:44 pmThis makes me wonder why Senator Smith hates our freedom.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:46 pmMore horse puckey. They need the troops to guarantee access to the oil fields for Exxon et.al. In November there will be no Iraqi military to take control. If Congress goes for this, it will be entirely up to the people of the United States to overthrow this faux government and its un-elected leader.
Comment by gogreen
Actually most of Americas oil comes from Cananda and Mexico. We should invest in the Can du type reactors, that use natural uranium as a source, and not weaponized uranium for power generation.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:46 pmOtherwise, the party you elected to govern, would be making it happen.
Comment by paul — January 9, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
It’s only been a week Paul, give them a chance to get their ducks in a row…
January 9th, 2007 at 6:47 pmThank’s for the link Stonehinge, it’s a done deal here as well…
Ot sorry, have you all heard the latest, bull shit bush is working on selling our tax payer owned hiways off to foreign investers like private property……..I get madder every day..Blessings all
January 9th, 2007 at 6:51 pm30 days into the 8 years of Clinton, because of the “gays in the military” issue, some conservatives were already calling his administration the “failed Clinton administration.” It was so ludicrous that Dave Barry used it as a running joke. Now we have the same talking-parrot republicans uttering the same nonsense about a congress which has been in session for 1 day.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:53 pmThey just got three more signers from this location.
Comment by Marie — January 9, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
curious – how do you know that info?
January 9th, 2007 at 6:55 pm23 sharon,
I can’t tell you how much I hope that you misunderstood something there. Does anybody know what authority the president has to sell publicly-owned property to foreigners? Especially the properties that are critical to our infrastructure? Almost, you might say, a national security interest?
President Bush has got to go.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:55 pmOt sorry, have you all heard the latest, bull shit bush is working on selling our tax payer owned hiways off to foreign investers like private property……..I get madder every day..Blessings all
Comment by Sharon Cox — January 9, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
He can’t do that…. Not that that has ever stopped him before.
What is it going to take to get this “man” removed from office?
January 9th, 2007 at 6:59 pmPaul the cons had been working on this strategy since 1998. Here we are 2006. Bush has one last chance, And I think the Democrats are gonna let him have it. If he succeedsm great, if he doesn’t it’s bye bye GOP for another decade.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:59 pmMore horse puckey. They need the troops to guarantee access to the oil fields for Exxon et.al. …
Comment by gogreen — January 9, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
reminded me to post this again:
“RECIPE FOR PERPETUAL TERRORISM†-randi rhodes :
January 9th, 2007 at 7:00 pmBlood and oil: How the West will profit from Iraq’s most precious commodity
The ‘IoS’ today reveals a draft for a new law that would give Western oil companies a massive share in the third largest reserves in the world. To the victors, the oil? That is how some experts view this unprecedented arrangement with a major Middle East oil producer that guarantees investors huge profits for the next 30 years
http://news.independent.co.uk/ world/ middle_east/ article2132574.ece
Gordon Smith is another Ivy League cheerleader with an IQ slightly above DUHbya and a family pocketbook about the same. He hasn’t had an original thought since he left the piney woods of Oregon. However, as long as he votes against bushco, particularly to sent them all to Gitmo, I will love him like a brother.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:01 pm…selling our tax payer owned hiways off to foreign investers like private property……..I get madder every day..Blessings all
Comment by Sharon Cox — January 9, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
this sounds familiar… seems there were stories about this months ago…
January 9th, 2007 at 7:04 pmeven the wingers were upset about it…
Ot sorry, have you all heard the latest, bull shit bush is working on selling our tax payer owned hiways off to foreign investers like private property
Link please. =)
January 9th, 2007 at 7:04 pmNow we have the same talking-parrot republicans uttering the same nonsense about a congress which has been in session for 1 day.
Comment by Bluedog49 — January 9, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
They constantly remind us that they have no relationship with reality on any level… Not that we need reminding. Our memories last much longer than a fiscal quarter of a year…
The people with whom I am associated that still support these people are serious rednecks who have never read a book from cover to cover, wandered outside county lines, or said more than a single sentance to any person of color. The remaining support system of these crooks is not very pretty. How could it be?
January 9th, 2007 at 7:05 pmListen, the Demoncrap congress has had 2 days, long enough time to straighten out the budget, get Social Security fixed and win the war……….now that they have failed we should have a recall.
-Pudley Q. Redstate
January 9th, 2007 at 7:08 pmHowever, as long as he votes against bushco, particularly to sent them all to Gitmo, I will love him like a brother.
Comment by Clyde the Ripper — January 9, 2007 @ 7:01 pm
Clyde, I don’t care how hold you say your body is – you still have brain hotter than any billborad of a 30 year old Calvin Klein underwear model… That was, as usual, hilarious.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:09 pmCrap, I flubbed my compliment… Make that:
Clyde, I don’t care how hold you say your body is – you still have a brain hotter than a billboard of a 30 year old Calvin Klein underwear model… That was, as usual, hilarious.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:12 pmWhat I posted was true..On Cnn Lou Dobb’s just a bit ago…A couple of state’s back east are already working on doing this and a private company in Australia was one of the praposed bidder’s…Toll’s any one, time to dump the car’s and buy a horse again.,,,,And if you piss off the toll taker everything stop’s, do ya think.?/….It just keep’s getting nuttier all the time…Blessings all……P.S. Laura, the key’s and truck are waiting, help us out…
January 9th, 2007 at 7:13 pmTime for dinner, and the long awaited Daily Show rerun from last night. Two weeks without Jon Stewart is simply torturous…
January 9th, 2007 at 7:13 pmgordon smith is trying to convince us oregonians that he is “librul” when it comes to war. He is a moderate on some things, and has a better voting record than do many. But he sees where his bread is buttered, and he knows that his corporate sponsors don’t vote.
he voted for the war, and has seen the polls in oregon about how he is going to get plastered by almost anyone that runs as a democrat. our former governor will crush him if he wants the job.
this is a man that has some scruples, but not enough to represent me.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:18 pmwe will hear a lot of talk from this fellow trying to live down his support of the cabal. He may even become a democrat. sort of like JoeCT. I am not insulting Mr. Smith by comparison to JoeCT. But “Mr. Smith goes to Washington”, just isn’t where this corporate tool is coming from.
oldtree,
OT, but I fell in love with Oregon when I visited in 1988.
I think I might like to relocate if given the chance.
Is it blue, or red with blue pockets?
Thanks.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:26 pmUnbelievable I missed Lou Dobb’s and Keith yesterday and had withdrawel’s, know what you mean about The Daily show…That’s a big me to….Blessings all…P,S. guess I better start saving up all my change for the bush sell off ,toll booth’s..Can we Impeach now.?
January 9th, 2007 at 7:26 pmGordon Smith is a phony who is trying to appease the appeasers – the Blue-Greens in Oregon. You got give the guy some credit for the good chameleon costume……
January 9th, 2007 at 7:39 pmTrueboo – Not to worry – you’ll feel LEFT at home in Oregon!
January 9th, 2007 at 7:41 pm“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarifiedrules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”
 Â
-Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
MA, was Tom Delay being an “appeaser?” The red appeaser of Texas, maybe?
January 9th, 2007 at 7:44 pmMA, I’m curious, would you call the “Battle of Falluja” a major combat operation, a combat operation or just an operation?
January 9th, 2007 at 7:47 pmSmith is kissing butt as he is up for re elction in ‘08.
If he were truly for the people he would also side with Wyden on internet neutrality. He is a phony and can’t trust him.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:47 pmMA,
Was I addressing you?
Then STFU.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:56 pmMA, I’m curious, would you call the “Battle of Falluja†a major combat operation, a combat operation or just an operation?
Comment by Bluedog49
Not answering for mighty aphid, but for me
Falluja was a war crime. Why? because WP was used on a civilian population. They melted the skin off of unarmed civilians, women, elderly and children, babies.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:59 pmThe skin was melted off children for Gods sake!!!
Everyone who ordered or participated in that illegal action should be tried. IMHO
#25, I mean from where I am sitting – myself and two others.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:01 pmI hope those of you who await the Daily Show, laugh as hard as I did at the “arm the teachers” segment.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:02 pm#40 True
Before you relocate to Oregon go back at least twice other than the Fourth of July. One word can describe Oregon: Waterlogged. I too was lured to Oregon on the strength of a few July 4th visits. It never rained. We moved and for ten years it didn’t stop. We moved back to the South and for five or six months out of the year we have the same Oregon neighbors that come to Arizona to dry out.
#35 Unbelievable
I thank you, and Granny thanks you!
January 9th, 2007 at 8:07 pmThanks, Clyde.
It never rained when I visited, either.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:14 pmSo I guess I’m stuck in the NE.
*sigh*
Dear Blue Pup – I would call the Battle of Fallujah a combat offensive after Koranimals hung, burned and mutilated Americans.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:15 pmShould read combat operation, Pup.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pm“Dear Blue Pup – I would call the Battle of Fallujah a combat offensive after Koranimals hung, burned and mutilated Americans. Comment by mighty aphrodite — January 9, 2007 @ 8:15 pm”
So then you admit bush *lied* when he said that *combat* was over? While we’re on *animals*, what’s your excuse for being one? Is it just that you’re a natural born *cvnt* – or is it that your head is so far up your a$$ you just like the smell of your own $hit for brains?
January 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pmAnyone know when Kennedy’s bill will be brought up in the house?
January 9th, 2007 at 8:24 pmHas anyone done an initial vote count on it yet?
[...] According to CNN, that’s supportive of Kennedy’s anti-escalation bill. Smith says he hasn’t yet decided what he thinks about Bush’s escalation plan, mainly because the Commander-in-Chief wouldn’t tell him (or anyone else) any details yet. He’ll have to wait until Wednesday at 9pM EST, like the rest of us, for the President’s 25 minute televised Address. [...]
January 9th, 2007 at 8:26 pmIt’s official, the deciding decider in chief has decided to send 20.000 additional troops to Irak.
I will keep on yelling in the desert.Congress can you hear me?
January 9th, 2007 at 8:36 pm#25, I mean from where I am sitting – myself and two others.
Comment by Marie — January 9, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
oh! of course, duh!
just that i read some comments here about being able to “get IP address” and other information… i thought you knew something i couldn’t see on that site…
so, make it 4! me too!
January 9th, 2007 at 8:38 pmReality Check – After the House takes up the Swimmers Bill, they’ll have to see about the possibility of garnering enough votes to overide the veto….if it even passes…..
January 9th, 2007 at 8:39 pmOfficial: First wave of troops to Iraq by Jan. 31
Responsibility for security shifts to Iraqis by November, another says
WASHINGTON – The latest draft of the new strategy for Iraq that President will Bush will lay out Wednesday calls for an increase of more than 20,000 troops, with most going to Baghdad and 4,000 to Anbar province, one senior official said Tuesday.
DEMOCRATS SUPPORT BUSHES ISEAS TO ESCALATE FULL BLOWN WAR
Just think about it ………. 100% true
January 9th, 2007 at 8:45 pm“Reality Check – After the House takes up the Swimmers Bill, they’ll have to see about the possibility of garnering enough votes to overide the veto….if it even passes….. Comment by mighty aphrodite — January 9, 2007 @ 8:39 pm”
You’ll have to see the possibility that without congressional funding the dumba$$ in chief won’t be able to take a pi$$ without asking first. Welcome to *grownup* politics, you sniveling little dumb$hit.
January 9th, 2007 at 8:47 pm#1 – stonehinge
Done. Thanks.
January 9th, 2007 at 9:34 pm60. Reality check. Why aren’t you for full oversight and accountability.
January 9th, 2007 at 9:59 pm#42: Gordon Smith is a phony who is trying to appease the appeasers
So, who exactly are the appeasers? Bush has consistently given the terrorists what they want: an effective recruitment tool for Islamic extremism. So it seems Bush and his followers would be the appeasers.
January 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pmA uplifting note to all poster’s….When we Impeach bull shit bush and evil incarnate cheney we will be able to put the first woman in the white house…Yep! Keep and work for that thought and action….Palosi for pres… It sound’s so good….Blessings
January 9th, 2007 at 10:15 pmI hope those of you who await the Daily Show, laugh as hard as I did at the “arm the teachers†segment.
Comment by Marie — January 9, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
Damn near wet my pants… That was hilarious. Bulletproof books…. LOL
Though I suppose that the idiots who come up with this stuff are the funniest part…
January 9th, 2007 at 10:45 pm#66 – “So, who exactly are the appeasers? Bush has consistently given the terrorists what they want: an effective recruitment tool for Islamic extremism.” Comment by Jim
******Jim – Before Bush took office in 2001, what was the Koranimals excuse for hating us? Think REALLY hard Jim…..
January 10th, 2007 at 12:08 am******Jim – Before Bush took office in 2001, what was the Koranimals excuse for hating us? Think REALLY hard Jim…..
Comment by mighty aphrodite — January 10, 2007
Isreal
January 10th, 2007 at 12:24 amReality Check – After the House takes up the Swimmers Bill, they’ll have to see about the possibility of garnering enough votes to overide the veto….if it even passes…..
Comment by mighty aphrodite — January 9, 2007
Democrats will not garner the votes to overide a veto because their part of the problem. Your logic is that there are two parties…bullshit. There are two ways of social engineering one society. Not all of congress are rotten, some are compromised, and others are too stupid to realize whats going on.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:30 amReality Check – After the House takes up the Swimmers Bill, they’ll have to see about the possibility of garnering enough votes to overide the veto….if it even passes…..
Comment by mighty aphrodite — January 9, 2007
Democrats will not garner the votes to overide a veto because their part of the problem. Your logic is that there are two parties…bullshit. There are two ways of social engineering one society. Not all of congress are rotten, some are compromised, and others are too stupid to realize whats going on.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:31 amComment by mighty aphrodite – Carl is that you? fess up spongeboy.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:34 amJTit – Good thing I didn’t expect a REAL response from you. I recognize that deer in the headlight stare….Palestinians are just a great little “cause”, aren’t they?
January 10th, 2007 at 12:42 amRe: #78 – Dear Eunich – Your mom says it’s time for your meds – I thought you had your Tourette’s Syndrome under control – apparently not…..
Sweet dreams!
January 10th, 2007 at 12:57 am(Q): A deadly snake and a Muslim are both approaching you rapidly, you are a dead shot, you have a gun, but only one bullet, which one do you shoot ?
(A): The MUSLIM of course !! The snake only bites when provoke. We know the Muslim’s intention.
I don’t personally have anything against Muslims.
In fact, I think everyone should own one or two !!
Q: What do female Muslims use for birth control?
A: Their faces.
Q: What’s the difference between a Muslim and a dead horse?
A. It’s no fun beating a dead horse.
Q. What’s the difference between an American BBQ and an Islamic BBQ?
A. In America, Humans roast animals over a fire. In Islam, it’s the other way around.
Q. What do you say to a Muslim with his arm all the way up a camel’s rump?
A. “Having car trouble?â€
Q. What’s the difference between Cindy Sheehan and a terrorist enemy?
A. I don’t know either.
Q. What’s the difference between Michael Moore and a one ton CARE package?
A. Michael Moore, if sliced real thin, can feed a larger Afghan village.
Q: What’s the definition of a virgin in the Middle East?
January 10th, 2007 at 1:39 amA: Any camel that can run faster than an Muslim.
#81 – Violates Terms of Use.
January 10th, 2007 at 1:59 amNice to see the IQ level dropped below zero after the first 10 posts.
January 10th, 2007 at 4:56 amDear Blue Pup – I would call the Battle of Fallujah a combat offensive after Koranimals hung, burned and mutilated Americans.- mighty aphrodite
Hey you imaginary jewish lawyer marine dentist proctologist, how many Iraqi civilians have been burned and mutilated by americans in the past 4 years? Let me guess, thats ok as long as they didnt get hung up afterwards? Or because saddam was a bad man, who started invading countries other than the ones we told him to…?
Fallujah is the perfect of example of overblown american machismo and the reason even your hero dumbya is no longer willing to say we are winning in iraq.
The Iraqis in Fallujah killed 4 Blackwater MERCENARIES, very likely doing ASSASINATIONS of the local populace. And in response we leveled the town. Yes, definitely winning the hearts and minds there…
What was the supposed story? They were randomly driving through fallujah protecting a food truck? Where are the dead truck drivers then? Why were the only casualities mercenaries?
Why, because in all likelyhood they were doing a hit job on someone in the area. So the locals killed them, and strung them up. Good riddance. I clapped when I saw them hanging from the bridge. Blackwater is a group of warmongering bloodrenched murderous hitman scum who follow no rules, have no honor, and obey no laws, and anyone who disposes of these sorts of dirtwads in the most unpleasant way imaginable has my wholehearted applause.
http://rwor.org/a/1236/blackwater.htm
(harldly an impartial website but their assertions about the events of that day DO pan out)
And how did we respond to the killing of 4 of our grossly overpaid illegal hitmen? We tried to level the town, gave the insurgents Alamo-esque propoganda victory, and killed probably hundreds of innocents in response.
Its called “disproportionate force” and its reason # 52 why IRaq will never be what we want it to be. That, and the people we liberated arent any better than the people we liberated them from. Its just two different gangs, and we just switched sides in mid stride. Bad move, because now the gang we just helped is wanting us out so they can building alliances with the gang next door we dont like. I mean, if we leave, we will be appeasing… the sunnis.. uhm.. I mean the shias.. uhm.. I mean Iran…. are we appeasing all those people or just the 5 percent of the armed folks over there who are foreigners?
You can’t face facts aphromite, that the vast majority of people taking shots at americans in iraq are nationalists, who have no wider political asperations to attack americans. If you say I’m wrong, quote someone other than dick cheney. Every intelligence estimate of the amount of foreign jihadis in iraq puts thier percentage in the single digits. If you were born an iraqi you would call people who didnt fight invaders “traitors”, but since you’re too myopic to see the world through someone else’s eyes, you call them all “terrorists” instead, when in fact most of them just want us to leave.
IRaq is smashed. Trying to put it back into something we find appealing has all the promise of trying to dig up Jon Benet Ramsey and give her her hymen back.
January 10th, 2007 at 5:09 amThe US Congress must immediately refocus its attention from the surge to Iran, the real target of Bush administration aggression.
Is the surge an orchestrated distraction from the real war plan?
A good case can be made that it is. The US Congress and media are focused on President Bush’s proposal for an increase of 20,000 US troops in Iraq, while Israel and its American neoconservative allies prepare an assault on Iran.
Commentators have expressed puzzlement over President Bush’s appointment of a US Navy admiral as commander in charge of the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The appointment makes sense only if the administration’s attention has shifted from the insurgencies to an attack on Iran.
The Bush administration has recently doubled its aircraft carrier forces and air power in the Persian Gulf. According to credible news reports, the Israeli air force has been making practice runs in preparation for an attack on Iran.
Recently, Israeli military and political leaders have described Israeli machinations to manipulate the American public and their representatives into supporting or joining an Israeli assault on Iran.
Two US carrier task forces or strike groups will certainly congest the Persian Gulf. On January 9, a US nuclear sub collided with a Japanese tanker in the Persian Gulf. Two carrier groups will have scant room for maneuver. Their purpose is either to provide the means for a hard hit on Iran or to serve as sitting ducks for a new Pearl Harbor that would rally Americans behind the new war.
Whether our ships are hit by Iran in retaliation to an attack from Israel or suffer an orchestrated attack by Israel that is blamed on the Iranians, there are certainly far more US naval forces in the Persian Gulf than prudence demands.
Bush’s proposed surge appears to have no real military purpose. The US military opposes it as militarily pointless and as damaging to the US Army and Marine Corps. The surge can only be accomplished by keeping troops deployed after the arrival of their replacements. Moreover, the increase in numbers that can be achieved in this way are far short of the numbers required to put down the insurgency and civil war.
The only purpose of the surge is to distract Congress while plans are implemented to widen the war.
January 10th, 2007 at 5:09 amIt’s
January 10th, 2007 at 8:48 amIt’s a beautiful thing to hear a Republican Senator state that Bush’s policy is criminal. Please impeach, I’m begging you.
January 10th, 2007 at 8:49 amAren’t you worried that after you impeach Bush, that you won’t have anyone to blame, or worse yet, you’ll actually have to start taking responsibility for the country, unstead of just complaining about it?
January 10th, 2007 at 9:40 amNo, paul, we’re not worried about that.
What really worries us is that even after we regain control of our country, it will be the work of decades to undo the staggering amount of damage he and his cabal of murderous thugs have caused.
Thanks for your concern, though.
January 10th, 2007 at 9:47 amDear Wanna-be Aphrodite – Your argument, “they just want us to leave”, MIGHT make sense if your “argument” had not already failed. After our pullout in 1991, the Saddam-ordered and Sunni “executed” slaughter of the Shiite’s unfolded. The primitive tribalism rampant in an otherwise educated society requires a shored up federal system or, failing that, three separate areas of concentrated ethnicities.
Most Iraqi’s want us to leave – as soon as a semblance of order is crafted. For the average Iraqi, just wanting to take care of his/her family, I have empathy. For the Koranimals who kill their countrymen and US, I have contempt.
Tooodles…..
January 10th, 2007 at 11:58 amRepublicans don’t run the Congress anymore. Who cares what they think? The Dems have the responsibility. The Dems will now decide. The GOP can stick their heads in the toilet, where they tried to put all opposition for the past 12 years. The Gop has a hard time accepting the fact that they are now the powerless ones, they talk and act like they are still in power. As far as I’m concerned, the Dems can tie them up and put them all in the Capital basement. They have failed in the most spectacular manner. Shove socks in their mouths if you have to, Dems, but take control from them NOW and act! If we do not, we will find ourselves part and parcel of a Shia-led genocide of the Sunni in Iraq.
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