July 21, 2007
Jul 21 08:59 They Call This Bipartisanship? Jul 21 09:46 Media Update: Euphoric Reality Version Jul 21 11:43 Rubaie Sets Record Straight Jul 21 20:35 It "Makes No Sense To Us"
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006
They Call This Bipartisanship?
Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters have written a letter saying that a "bipartisan group" of 70 legislators have agreed to not vote for any more funding for Iraq unless
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA); Rep. Rush Holt (NJ); Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY); Rep. Diane Watson (CA); Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ); Rep. Barney Frank (MA); Rep. Danny Davis (IL); Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. John Hall (NY); Rep. Bob Filner (CA); Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); Rep. Bobby Rush (IL); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Ed Towns (NY); Rep. Paul Hodes (NH); Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO); Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rep. Albert Wynn (MD); Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA); Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC); Rep. Hilda Solis (CA); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY); Rep. Michael Honda (CA); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN); Rep. Phil Hare (IL); Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA); Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL); Rep. James McGovern (MA); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Julia Carson (IN); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. John Olver (MA); Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX); Rep. Jim McDermott (WA); Rep. Ed Markey (MA); Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA); Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ); Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX); Rep. Pete Stark (CA); Rep. Bobby Scott (VA); Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Betty McCollum (MN); Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN); Rep. Diana DeGette (CO); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Artur Davis (AL); Rep. Hank Johnson (GA); Rep. Donald Payne (NJ); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Rep. John Lewis (GA); Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY); Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI); Rep. Gwen Moore (WI); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN); Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI); Rep. David Scott (GA); Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL); Lois Capps (CA); Steve Rothman (NJ); Elijah Cummings (MD); and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).Maybe I'm a bit rusty in keeping up with the freshman class but the only Republican I recognize in the list is Ron Paul. That's hardly what thinking Americans would consider bipartisanship.
This isn't something that President Bush should take seriously. All of the co-sponsors of H. Res. 333, which seeks the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, are signatories of this letter. All but Paul would likely vote for Cheney's impeachment. I'd be surprised if freshman Democrats serving in swing districts would vote for funding the troops, deadline or not.
The letter itself is an exercise in hyperbole. Here's a couple shining examples:
"Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war..."As I've said before, civilian casualties have dropped 36 percent from April to May, which doesn't support their claims of an outbreak of "sectarian civil war".
We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.
Furthermore, saying that there's a clear and growing majority of Americans who oppose the war is false. It's still the majority view but the numbers aren't growing.
Finally, saying that debts are soaring is absurd. If things keep progressing on the track they're currently on, the budget deficit will be less than 1.5 percent of GDP, which is relatively low as a percentage of GDP.
That's what you should expect from a letter that Maxine Waters helped write. She's definitely out there. The scary part is that there are people on that list that almost make her look reasonable.
Posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 8:59 AM
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Media Update: Euphoric Reality Version
Last night, I got a call from Kit Lange from Euphoric Reality, asking if I was available to talk about John Murtha and all things Haditha on her BTR show titled "The Front Line". I asked what night she wanted me on as a guest and she said "Is 45 minutes from now ok?" I assured her that anytime I could expose John Murtha's irresponsible accusations was an opportunity I wouldn't pass up.
Suffice it to say that the hour flew past. Tim Harrington was the star attraction as he walked people through the various Article 32 hearings as well as pointing out the injustices being done by the system. For those of you who haven't listened to Tim talk about the JAG Corps, NCIS, the Pendleton 8 and Haditha Marines, you've missed out on a huge amount of information. If you have heard him talking about these subjects, then you're likely to have your blood boiling.
I want to thank Kit for allowing me valuable air time to talk about the corruption machine known as John Murtha. I was able to highlight the inconsistencies (aka lies) in Murtha's statements. I was essentially relying on the information from this post.
The highlight of the program for me came from a caller who asked what we can do about exposing Rep. Murtha. Suffice it to say that I hammered that like Justin Morneau hammered that homerun to straight away center field last night. I said that we should look to what W e T he P eople did when the 'Grand Bargain' was being debated. I reminded him that people thought it'd pass, that it was a foregone conclusion. That was before we filled every senator's email inboxes and melted down their switchboard. I said that that's the type of pressure we need to put that type of pressure on Congress.
I also said that we need to flood the airwaves from border to border with this information. I also said that it's time for activists to start informing the people about what's happened thus far. We can't rally people if they don't know that these injustices exist. We know that the Agenda Media won't cover it so that puts the responsibility squarely on activists' shoulders.
The other thing that we should keep in mind is that the Sharratt family don't have anyone to turn to in Congress because their congressman is John Murtha. It's not like he'll help them. Simply put, he won't. He's bent on ruining Justin Sharratt's life. That's why I'm asking this blog's readers to (a) keep Darryl, Theresa and Justin Sharratt in your prayers and (b) ramp up the pressure on Democrats, especially on John Murtha. It's time that they learned about We The People give them power, not vice versa.
Kit, Thanks for giving me the platform to attack John Murtha's corruption machine. He certainly deserves it.
Posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 9:47 AM
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Rubaie Sets Record Straight
Iraq's national security advisor Mowaffak Rubaie sets the record straight in this LA Times op-ed. This should be considered a shot across the Democrats' bow for demagoguing the benchmark issue.
IN THE AMERICAN media, Iraq's steady progress toward security is frequently overshadowed by news of the latest act of mass terrorism. Yet for those of us who actually live here, progress is visible to all but the most irreconcilable skeptics. Just this week, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the United Nations' special representative for Iraq, announced at a news conference in Baghdad that Iraq had achieved, or at least started to achieve, 75% of the benchmarks it set for itself in the U.N.-led International Compact with Iraq.I'm not a big fan of the UN but I'll take note of what their special representative for Iraq said about making progress on 75 percent of the benchmarks they've created for themselves. I know that won't satisfy Democrats but I'd simply point out that their record on achieving their benchmarks doesn't meet the Iraqi benchmark.
The military force increase by the United States called "the surge" is only one element in the Iraqi and coalition strategy. The other elements are the political/diplomatic initiatives and economic progress, and the reality is that the strategy is working in spite of the monumental obstacles presented by international terrorists and difficult conditions inside Iraq.
Iraqi and coalition security forces are having major success against Al Qaeda and some of the other groups that are the principal sources of the violence that aims to overthrow our young democracy. From Al Anbar to Diyala, from Nineveh to Basra, the atrocities of the terrorists against our people are backfiring, and our citizens are coming forward to offer themselves to counter them.
Increasingly, Iraqis are showing confidence in our steadily improving security forces by leading them to hidden weapons and terrorist locations.
Iraq is continuing to increase the size and capabilities of its forces in the expectation that soon it will be able to decrease its reliance on coalition forces for direct combat functions. In no other modern country has the creation of new forces been as rapid and effective as in Iraq.
Charles Krauthammer said during last night's roundtable that the benchmarks aren't the most important consideration. He essentially said that Democrats were using them for political purposes rather than focusing on the military progress happening in Baqouba and Ramadi, Diyala and Anbar. He said it's likely that reconciliation is much more likely to happen as Operation Arrowhead Ripper eliminates AQI terrorists fomenting sectarian violence.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch has been outspoken about the need to consolidate the progress made during the surge. Here's another example of his outspokenness:
"I worry about this talk about reducing or terminating the surge," one of the officers, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. troops to the south of Baghdad, said in an interview with the Associated Press. "It's going to take through [this] summer, into the fall, to defeat the extremists in my battle space, and it's going to take me into next spring and summer to generate this sustained security presence."That's certain to get Democrats' undies in a bunch but I'll take his word on it because he's the man who's monitoring things in theater. I'll trust a single general in Iraq over a dozen armchair generals appearing on the cable channels. Gen. Lynch's candid manner of speaking is just what we need.
The truth is that progress is being made. There's a very realistic chance of winning, too. If Democrats were wise, they'd tread lightly before recommending dramatic and irresponsible changes in course. It isn't likely that they'll accept my advice because they generally aren't that wise.
If Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker report truly sustainable progress in mid-September, opinions will significantly shift here. I won't predict that but I'm certainly not dismissing that being the reality from Iraq.
Let's hope it happens.
Posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 11:44 AM
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It "Makes No Sense To Us"
That's how Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch characterized the debate happening here in the United States on Iraq in this interview with WTOC radio. I said here that Gen. Lynch is outspoken. This article reinforces that opinion.
"There are no regrets," Lynch told WTOC via satellite Wednesday morning. Lynch didn't hold back when talking about the US military and their mission in Iraq. The battle in the Senate over troop withdrawals touched a nerve with Lynch.Gen. Lynch's words are straightforward. Thankfully, they aren't politically correct. What this surge effort is a straight-speaking spokesman to sell the successes and warn against enacting bad policy. Based on what I've read about him, I'd say Gen. Lynch is the perfect candidate for the job.
"The big debate back home makes no sense to us really, " he said. "We can't fight for terrain and then give it away. We lost 80 soldiers since I've been here. We can't fight then walk away. We can't do that."
This section is a perfect illustration of the media-inflicted disconnect between public perception and 'on-the-ground' reality:
While some wonder about troop morale, Lynch says morale is strong. "We're doing fine and an indication, I got to tell you, we enlisted 42 soldiers yesterday, General Pace was here. Fourth of July we re-enlisted 200 dog-faced soldiers. On the Army birthday, another 50. Ask the guys how we are doing, we're doing great."My favorite whipping boy John Murtha said that the Haditha Marines cracked after the pressure got to them. Based on this information alone, I'd conclude that Rep. Murtha isn't telling the truth or he's utterly clueless. Based on his past history, it isn't a stretch to think he isn't telling the truth.
What worries Lynch is the morale of families back home. He blames the media and the lawmakers trying to pull troops. "Our families are saying, 'why are you there,'" he said. "I don't know why they play up the negative and downplay positives. When we have visitors, they say, 'wow, we are making progress over here.' Optimism is a combat multiplier. It would be a great thing if you all quit being so negative back home."
More importantly, Gen. Lynch has given us a straightforward, and upbeat, assessment of troop morale. Not only did he do that but he gave us recruiting statistics to prove that troop morale is high.
I'll guarantee that Democrats won't talk about this. They aren't about to admit that anything positive is happening in Iraq. Their mantra isn't based on winning because they don't consider the importance of the mission to the soldiers' morale. Democrats haven't figured out that winning means the world to these soldiers. This isn't just a goal with them; it's a mission, a cause to them. They should be given the opportunity to achieve their mission.
Lynch says two things are certain. Soldiers know what their mission at hand is and they want to get back home to their families when the mission is complete. "We miss our families, all soldiers we know we are fighting for freedom," Lynch said "We are trying to guarantee freedom for our children."I fully expect Congress to not stand in the way of them finishing their mission. The Democrats talk tough but they cave as quickly as a Frenchman surrenders.
Lynch says he expects to complete the 15 month deployment the Third ID was sent to do. They are in month five right now.
Posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 8:38 PM
Comment 1 by The Lady Logician at 21-Jul-07 09:09 PM
It is obvious (to me anyway) that the only generals that the Democrats want to hear from are the ones that agree with their withdrawal plan. All others simply don't exist in the Democrats minds....
LL
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 21-Jul-07 11:29 PM
Exactly right, LL.
