Neoconservatives Take Aim At Pentagon, Kristol Calls Gates Testimony ‘Pretty Pathetic’
Neoconservatives Take Aim At Pentagon, Kristol Calls Gates Testimony ‘Pretty Pathetic’
Escalation supporters already appear to be creating a scapegoat in case President Bush’s new Iraq policy fails. Prominent neoconservatives have set their aims on top U.S. military commanders and their allies in the Pentagon (apparently including Defense Secretary Robert Gates), who they claim are sabotaging President Bush’s escalation plan by “slow-walking” the deployment of U.S. forces to Iraq.
On Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol called Gates’ congressional testimony last week “pretty pathetic.” Gates told Congress that we “may be able to begin drawing down some of our troops later this year.” According to Kristol, “That’s the absolute wrong message to send. The message we should send over there is we’re coming in, we’re coming in big, we’re staying, we’re winning this war.” Kristol suggested that Gates was “letting the Joint Chiefs slow-walk the brigades in.” Watch it:
On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) agreed that the Pentagon is “dragging its feet” in implementing Bush’s strategy, saying, “I think there’s bureaucratic resistance in the Pentagon to this proposal.” Retired Army Gen. John Keane, the “military architect” of the escalation plan, is also upset:
Gen. Keane expressed his alarm after Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates testified on Capitol Hill that the troop buildup was expected to last “a matter of months” — rather than the 18 months proposed by Gen. Keane.
Mr. Gates also said the full deployment of 21,500 additional troops, announced by Mr. Bush last week, might not be implemented. He suggested that only two or three of the five brigades proposed for Baghdad could be deployed initially, while the rest are held in reserve.
Full transcript:
KRISTOL: The president’s language in his speech on Wednesday could not have been stronger. He said that this is a struggle that will determine the direction of the war on terror and our safety at home.
If it is that much of an issue of national security, Brit pointed out, you know, the key is what’s going to happen with the Iraqi government, what’s going to happen with the Iraqi army, which are certainly grave concerns. Why don’t we say we are going to win this war?
KRISTOL: We should. We should. And the president does. But the administration then sort of reverses the previous rhetoric. Bob Gates’ testimony on Friday I thought was pretty pathetic, frankly — you know, well, we hope to begin drawing down troops later this year. That’s the absolute wrong message to send.
The message we should send over there is we’re coming in, we’re coming in big, we’re staying, we’re winning this war. Letting the Joint Chiefs slow-walk the brigades in I think is a big mistake.
So I think the president need to insist that his administration pivot and fight this as a war to win.
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68 Responses to “Neoconservatives Take Aim At Pentagon, Kristol Calls Gates Testimony ‘Pretty Pathetic’”
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January 16th, 2007 at 7:58 pmWhat size orange jumpsuit would anyone venture to guess this TRAITOR Kristol wears?
...I wonder if anyone has thought to do the "chart" on this scum?
January 16th, 2007 at 8:06 pmThe brains behind 9/11!
Never, ever forget that.
And there are no consequences for his actions. None.
He sleeps well at night.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:10 pmSchnell, Schnell.
March quickly to your death you 20,000 canon fodder. Herr Fuhrer has ordered you to die for the Fatherland.
This snivelling piece of dog turd Kristol ought ot be hung by his short-and-curlies for all the pain his neo-con, zionist ideas have caused this nation
January 16th, 2007 at 8:16 pmBill Kristol (Meth) is pathetic!!!
WAR CRIMINAL!!!!!!!!!
January 16th, 2007 at 8:16 pmExactly why does Kristol get to say anything with authority about the Iraq War?
He's a ghoul...
January 16th, 2007 at 8:18 pmKristol can get his butt over to Iraq with a rifle in his hand or shut the hell up!
January 16th, 2007 at 8:27 pmAnd Who exactly is the Secretary of Defense. It's Gates (not that it's so great) and it's his decision is it not? They let Rumsfeld get away with ANYTHING. Keane just wants more war, he's the architect of this new ESCALATION. AN ESCALATION TO POSITION TROOPS TO GO INTO IRAN AND/ OR SYRIA.
As for Kristol, well, hell he's been WRONG ON EVERYTHING. Why should Kristol have any input into our foreign and military policy? Everything he says is SO WRONG. So I guess Bush will listen to him.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:32 pmIn case it fails? What pray tell makes you think that a 15% increase in the size of the overall force is going to make a damn bit of difference?
January 16th, 2007 at 8:33 pm#6 Zooey,
Because he is the anointed leader of the Merry NeoCons. With a grin like his, how could you NOT trust him with your women and children??
January 16th, 2007 at 8:36 pmFox News again. Yawn.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:37 pm#9 Klyde
It will just add at least a 9% increase in US troop casualties and who know how many Iraqi civilians.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:38 pm#4 Rebel
You are mean, nasty, sarcastic, caustic, vulgar, perceptive, and, above all, right. I like you!
January 16th, 2007 at 8:38 pmIt's all a game to fool the ignorant public in a Straussian way.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:40 pm"Weekly Standard editor". Bah, that's a sideproject to PNAC.
Because he is the anointed leader of the Merry NeoCons. With a grin like his, how could you NOT trust him with your women and children??
Comment by upside00
I think he's slimey and disgusting.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:43 pmThis guy is a MONSTER. If ever convicted of war crimes he would mostly say he would gladly jump in to the graves of all the dead he caused.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:43 pmPivot on this smarmy Strauss idealogue clown
mllny
January 16th, 2007 at 8:45 pmSounds like the Pentagon may be pushing back against the Prez. Not coup d'etat-level pushback, maybe just a shove, but still a pushback. It's a start.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:48 pm"The Pentagon is “dragging its feet†in implementing Bush’s strategy"....McCain should say that to the brigade that is leaving GA tonight on it's third tour of duty.
P.S. to the Neocons: I don't think the top U.S. military commanders and their allies in the Pentagon will make very good scapegoats...They're the ones with the guns.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:48 pmYou know, I am realy tired of post's on these pieces of shit like o'lilie and kristol...Why does TP keep putting up posts and giving this garbage their 15 minutes of fame ?.. How long has it been since there was any thread or comment's about all the diffrent Peace activest groups.? Judd. anyone.? In fact I don't remember any at all....Blessings
January 16th, 2007 at 8:49 pmOf course for Kristol and his NeoCon cabal, any talk or hint by anybody about withdrawing troops from Iraq is considered a pathetic talk and troops according to him must stay to fight another war on the list per PNAC doctrine that he and his NeoCons cabal wrote. To these people,the war just begun..and any talk about withdrawing is unacceptable. These chickenhawks all what they talk about all day is war,and nothing but war...it is music to their ears,yet none of them willing to send one of his kids to fight these wars they are passionate about. That is why Robert Gates was pathetic and not strong enough according to Kristol & company.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:50 pmTo fully understand the amoral and henious game these despots play I STRONGLY encourage you see the BBC Film "Power of Nightmares" on Goolge clips. It is an hour in length and one of the best historical summary of how the neocons are playing the American people (starring Kristol). I promise you it is a MUST SEE.
The truth = One of the great equalizers
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6508388099187397544&q=The+Power+of+Nightmares&hl=en
It will forever change your understanding and awarenes.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:52 pmGood point, Sharon.
Hearing about some good in the world isn't necessarily "hot", but it sure would soothe the soul every once in a while.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:55 pmComment by Sharon Cox — January 16, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
This blog is a major "smoke-screen" site. Remember that other subject((i)s)...
January 16th, 2007 at 8:56 pmI know I'm a pacifist, but I really want to use him as a pinata... I can't seem to help myself. That smug grimace...
January 16th, 2007 at 8:57 pmi vaguely recall rachel maddow talking tonight about a story that the dems will be getting a blaming in the SOTU speech...
January 16th, 2007 at 8:59 pmimagine that...
Sharon,
I think it's about keeping your friends close but your enemies closer. If we don't watch these criminals, they will steal more than just the cookies in the jar... Look what they've done in plain sight as it is. I consider TP as a watchdog...
January 16th, 2007 at 9:00 pmthis site is about promoting Center for American Progress and that agenda...
January 16th, 2007 at 9:03 pmi thought everyone knew that...
Sharon I agree. It keeps us in reactive mode....one more knock back on the old heals yelling....WTF? It wears one down.....
Yes we should keep track of these pigs. But TP could get a lot more like DailyKos.....and report all the great stuff that is happening in the Progressive world. It would be inspiring...lead to more action. I hope TP reads this. The left needs to hear about what is happening on our side ...not just constant alerts from the same gas bags over and over. We get it........now, what are we going to do?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:06 pmHere's a nice tid bit
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mydd.com%2Fstory%2F2007%2F1%2F16%2F16545%2F9786
January 16th, 2007 at 9:08 pmsee, s... you post a link to raw story... talk about daily kos... there are progressive news sites all over the place... wouldn't it be overkill, even copycat to have TP go there too?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:15 pmmy personal fav is crooks and liars...
i comment here because it's so easy... but i read all over the place...
If Bush keeps pissing on the troops the way he does by carelessly deploying them into a strategic black-hole, we may see a fullscale revolt in the ranks.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:19 pmThat is a good point Katy. But things are always changing. We are approaching a real tipping point now in terms of battling this regime...the thugs in power. It is a crucial time and executive power must be curbed. We have to be even more organized than before on the left. I think TP is great and read all over the place as well....DailyKos, AmericaBlog, Eschaton, TalkLeft, Firedoglake, Crooksandliars etc etc. My thought was only this.......We know pretty well by now what Kristol is about and what Dobson is likely to do...etc etc. The title of this blog is ThinkPROGRESS. So, how do we progress?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:22 pmwhoa... scarborough in the back ground talking about "war profiteering"... the lisa meyers story about "trophy" - blocking it... 2nd week i've heard it...
he even played a clip from eisenhowers speech...
tells viewers to contact their congressperson about it... "shocking"...
the times they are a changin'?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:25 pmOne question that immediately leaps to mind for me on this issue is...in the name of all that's sacred, how can (and why should) Dubya expect the American people to present a united front in favor of this proposal when even the people who are pushing can't agree on how to go about it?
Wonder when (or if) it will ever occur to McCain that perhaps the reason why the Pentagon appears to be "dragging its feet" with regard to the implementation of Dubya's plan is because they know it's a bad idea...
January 16th, 2007 at 9:38 pmIf we are REALLY lucky, maybe the next time Bush sneaks into Iraq for a surprise visit with the troops, they will frag his sorry ass. I can only pray.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:41 pmhi, i like u blog, i add into my booksmark now, see u
January 16th, 2007 at 9:41 pm#12 Upside00
So other than numbers there will be no real change
January 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pmThank you all for your responses..Ofcourse I already knew TP is a watch dog group and I also get a lot of my information from many sites that you listed and some of my own like Paine, OPEd, Truthout and so on....My point is still the same, there is never anything about the Peace activest group's and what we are doing..Ever...No balance here.....
Many posters here put up great links and information of which I am grateful and I have learned much thank's to all of you, but I have grown weary of the site and the mismanagement of content and the miserable troll's....I agree with freedom of speech but am tired of the crap. Now I am beginning to wonder if this site is merely a camp ground for troll's and opinion gathering for other sources and group's..Frankly I don't see progress here I only see new's and people giving their response to the new's added to fighting a lot of miserable people slamming one another about their view's. How much progress is made with that.?....Shit, thats how our world got in the mess it's in...Slamming and fighting......Blessings all...Good night.
January 16th, 2007 at 10:09 pmSharon > Bush lover trolls get paid to post on TP, but there are a few who post just to make trouble for free. "schmendrick" is one who likes to post crap and pick fights > the kind that TP must ban.
January 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pmBill Kristol is almost as insane as President Bush.
January 16th, 2007 at 10:29 pmNeoconservatives Take Aim At Pentagon, Kristol Calls Gates Testimony ‘Pretty Pathetic’...
This is pretty pathetic. Did Bush lie to the American people, AGAIN? Was he not able to send 21,500 and only able to right now, to send no more than 9,000 according to the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff? Note link: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/05/r...
January 16th, 2007 at 10:48 pmWhen will the media start denying fools like Kristol a forum? And if 61% oppose escalation, how is McCain a frontrunner?
January 16th, 2007 at 10:58 pmLittle shit trying to please his daddy. Not gonna happen little bill. How would you like to be in a fox hole with this little girl? What in the name of all that's holy, could give this waste of skin his direction in life? And on top of that, he's not terribly bright. Must have naked pictures of someone at Fox...
January 16th, 2007 at 11:14 pmSomeone please take a shit on Bill Kristol's head.
-GSD
January 16th, 2007 at 11:27 pmFrom 'Not Just Wrong, but All Wrong' by Paul Campos:
"Since the start of the war, Kristol has claimed that "there's almost no evidence" Iraqi Shiites wouldn't be able to get along with Sunnis; that it was a mistake to worry that Iraq "would fracture into feuding clans and unleash a bloodbath"; that the January 2005 Iraqi elections represented "a genuine turning point," comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall; that the situation in Iraq wouldn't get worse in 2006, and thus opposition to the war would prove to be an electoral disaster for Democrats; and that the Iraqi response to the bombing of the Samarra mosque this past February was "evidence of Iraq's underlying stability in the face of attempts to undermine it."
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0116-31.htm
Time recently hired Kristol, neocons own most of the MSM. Notice how the lying and deceiving has actually INCREASED since the mid-terms? No evidence that Iran is involved with IEDs, yet Bush & the Pentagon are at it again with their baseless propsganda. I feel we could be on the brink of catastrophe.
January 16th, 2007 at 11:46 pmSomeone please take a shit on Bill Kristol’s head.
-GSD
Comment by GSD
Poooooooooooop.....
There.
January 16th, 2007 at 11:46 pmEXCELLENT OBSERVATION, SHARON.
Judging by this site, you'd think the peace movement was non-existant. Funny, it gets about the same amount of play in Corporate Media as well.
January 17th, 2007 at 12:33 amPretty pathetic pretty much sums up Kristol.
Correction: very pathetic. But that shouldn't stop us from reserving a place in the docket for Kristol.
January 17th, 2007 at 12:46 amIn my life time I have read many book's, some good some not so good..Year's ago I read 2 that were very interesting, the first one was " you are what you eat", I agree with that, what one put's into their body determins how they will fare and how they may or may not survive based on a (balanced diet)...The other little book a co worker gave me when I was going through some heavy duty personal thing's..."As a man thinketh".....This second little book was a tiny step toward's all my other studies since.....Not enough room to go into all the great book's I have read since these 2 but serfice to say they planted the firm seed's of knoledge and wanting to study more about the human condition.
The second book " as a man thinketh" is as I recal these many year's since I read it, a little mind cleansing and changing of one's thought process.....Garbage in, garbage out for the internet crowd.....As long as a person is full of evil and hate through their actions and word's nothing good can come out or go into their mind but more of the same to continue their existance....
We all know people that live in and creat a constant state of drama, with out their created constant drama they are nothing..Our present administration and all their followers 28% of the population are aflicted with these disorder's....Some of this group have many contributing addiction's like drug's, booze, complexes including mental disorder's far to many to list. Genetic's and parenting or lack of also play a huge part...
What the hell is her point, you are asking as you choose to read this post or not....Well here's what I am getting to......This administration and the evil troll's who blast other's for their posting's here are all lumped together...They are the distroyer's of learning and progressing the world to Peace.....They feed on and spew their hate and evil just to incite more of the same....They have nothing to offer in the way of oposite opinion's only more fear, hate and evil..Their speels are no better than a common wife beater or murderer..They are so consumed with jelousy and all the evil thought's they will learn nothing, they alone have to change. What we do may change them, for the troll's it maybe banishing and shunning like they do not exist....For bush it must be Impeachment, prison and being held accountable.....So once again I leave you all with a parting shot.....It pain's me the way these troll's blast good people like BnF, Zooey, trueblue, Unbelievable, Juan C and many other's....I am saddened that TP has not taken a stand with banning some for their evil way's..Most of all I am upset that good air and print space is being used up by a sickness in people we can not fix.....I am also reminded by my belief in Karma and the law of 3, what you send out (good or bad) come's back three fold......I choose Peace and I will work toward's that......I send out Blessings..Do as you choose and remember to do nothing is also a choice....
January 17th, 2007 at 2:19 amYou know … ROBERT ?
The resident TP hacker ?
Comment by Jewish Liberator
Rachel . . .
You must get awfully tired doing all that cutting and pasting. What are you really, a trust-fund baby? 'Cause we all work, yet you can be found posting here under any one of, what? thirty names, not counting the ones you steal, any time day or night. For what? Do you think this is going to drive us away? I've been here for over three years, and have seen many trolls come and go. I'll still be here, after you've decided on some more important target, and so will the others. We have the patience to wait you out. We waited for six years to resume control, and we've got a mission to restore this country to the America we once knew and still love.
And I'm still Barfly.
January 17th, 2007 at 5:02 amKristol is a war criminal whose loyalty is not to America.
January 17th, 2007 at 6:32 amIf this man wants to make American policy so matter of factly, and he sounds as though he himself is "running Bush", Kristol should RUN FOR OFFICE>
January 17th, 2007 at 7:29 amHE IS NOT ELECTED TO REPRESENT anyone's views.... shut up Kristol..... you are not part of any solution. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM
And what has been the result of this astonishing performance? Have Kristol's employers fired him for gross incompetence? Has he been exiled from the national media for having been completely wrong, over and over again, about the most important issue facing America today?
Far from it! Kristol has just been hired by Time, America's leading news weekly, to write a column. This is the journalistic equivalent of handing the former captain of the Exxon Valdez a case of whiskey and the command of a fully loaded supertanker.
The nation's elite media continue to be in denial about the fact that most of America's most prominent pundits were wrong about Iraq. (Admittedly not all of them were as wrong as Kristol. The average pundit couldn't manage to be as wrong as Kristol if he tried.)
January 17th, 2007 at 7:40 amHas the effeminate warmongering Kristol sent any of his children or grandchildren to fight in this wonderful global and epic struggle for benevolent hegemony yet? If not, why not?
January 17th, 2007 at 8:39 am-Agreed, Kristol is a fanatic who has a huge amount of blood on his hands.
-Also, this site has some of the truly weirdest trolls (?) I've ever seen. Twere me, I'd shut off comments entirely for a couple of weeks just to clear the air.
-Clearly, a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe is in order. I wave my wand and ban all apostrophes from the Internet for a year until people can be trusted to use them properly. Excess' apostrophes' onl'y ai'd the terrorist's!
January 17th, 2007 at 8:52 amThese idiots are in love with the prospect of WAR. They love the money it makes them and their friends and the loath anyon else that may be different than themselves.
January 17th, 2007 at 9:13 amHatemongers
Kristol always looks constipated.
That grimace & the narrow, beady little eyes look like he hasn't taken a dump in weeks.
Maybe that's the problem. He's so full of crap he's about to explode.
This little warmonger has a plan, alright. It includes all your children dying for PNAC's plan of a new world order. He needs to be taken out...soon.
January 17th, 2007 at 9:44 amThe foot dragging my the military has everything to do with the changes in the rules of engagement. Bush wants to take many of the troops now engaged in force protection and embed them with Iraqi units.
I would grant that a "few" troops could be pulled from force protection without that much decline in security for American forces but not in the numbers that Bush is attempting to impose on the military.
This is a lose-lose situation for the military. Putting more troops on the streets mean more road-side bombs. It also means that the compounds where the troops stay would be more vulnerable to successful attack. Only if the goal is more dead soldiers does this change in tactics make sense and I don't think that is what the American people said on November 7th.
January 17th, 2007 at 11:00 amThese idiots are in love with the prospect of WAR.
Actually, I somewhat disagree. What they are in love with is the prospect of transforming this country into an authoritarian, quasi-fascist police state. They and their ilk have been infatuated with that idea--though I suspect they aren't even aware of it on a conscious level--since the McCarthy period if not before. A condition of permanent war is a means to that end.
January 17th, 2007 at 11:05 amLet's see, Gates's testimony before Congress = pathetic?
January 17th, 2007 at 12:18 pmWhile Kristol's interview, where Jon Stewart skewers him on Comedy Central = brilliant?
Why should anyone care what Krystol says. He and his PNAC buddies were partially respobsible for the Iraq fiasco in the first place.
He's pathetic (and a abysmal strategist/foreign policy theorist).
January 17th, 2007 at 1:54 pmBilly Kristol = bleepin' gravel-voiced chickenhawk
January 17th, 2007 at 2:27 pmIs this crap for real? We have Linda Blair or Blair witch, or rachel b blair whatever the 15 different names she uses making accusations?
ZOOEY IT ISNT A MATTER OF WHO IS WHO ANY LONGER
THE QUESTION HERE IS DO TP POSTERS TRUST YOU ROBERT TRUEBLUE AND UNBELIEVABLE ANYMORE
IT DOESNT MATTER WHO YOU THINK I AM.......................
I leave for a couple of days and the whole freak'n place falls apart.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:04 amRupert Murdoch gives the neocons their platform. Fox news, Fox TV, Washington Times, Weekly Standard, the San Antonio Express, Star tabloid, New York Post... He is using his media empire to wage a war on Journalism in this country thanks to the FCC's laxed rules. It's being coined as a race to the bottom in his taking control of the public's right to know (the real news) and feeding them propaganda and entertainment "news."
January 18th, 2007 at 3:42 pmi am saying trueblue Zooey and Robert devised a plan that routes al;l of TPs traffic to Robert
He then parses and picks what stays and what goes
If you are an enemy of Roberts your post wont stay around long
He deleted my post here on this thread earlier
Think Progress did not do it
I emailed them and asked them that question
Their response ?
*No we did not sir*
Comment by whistleblower — January 16, 2007 @ 6:34 pmHey “rachel bâ€, rachel b blaie", “porcupineyâ€, and now "whistleblower: how many names do you use? Who pays you to disrupt this site? You say that Zooey and others are in some way complicit at hacking this site and some how redirect post somewhere else? If you have proof how did they do it? DNS injection? ARP poisoning? Man-in-the-middle attack? Zero day exploit? Explain to all of us how this supposedly was perpetrated. This is the third thread I have seen you use a different name to try and make zooey and others look bad regarding this. The reason I know its you, because of your syntax. Robert was probably you as well. I seen the comment he made and it doesn’t flow in sentence form, instead it’s choppy line by line.
Anyway, I’m in contact with parent company of TP, because I take allegations of IP hijacking very seriously. We will get to the bottom of this and I hope it’s a hoax, but won’t know until it’s investigated.
Even if your using an anonymous server or proxy to hide your IP that’s only good for the first time, because a pattern can be done to match the logs of this server to the down stream routers….
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