The Senate Armed Services Committee is currently meeting to discuss the Iraq war. You can watch the questioning of Rumsfeld, General Myers, General Abizaid and General Casey on C-SPAN 3 and join the live discussion here.
Thanks to zander and rba for providing this link to their prepared statements.
USA Today has a round up of what’s occurred so far this morning:
…
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee’s senior Democrat, said there was “no military settlement without a political settlement.”
He called for Iraqis to not keep putting off a vote on the drafting of a constitution. “Failure to adopt a constitution … shows a lack of will,” he said.
“We must demonstrate to the Iraqis that our willingness to bear the burden…has limits,” Levin said. At the same time, he said he did not support at this time a U.S.-set timetable for a U.S. exit strategy. “That policy would be counterproductive,” Levin acknowledged.
…
Mindful of polls showing heightened public discontent over the Iraq war, Senate Democratic leaders gathered their rank-and-file Wednesday to discuss strategies for pressing the administration on Iraq.
“It’s been a long time since there’s been a serious look at the administration’s policies in Iraq,” said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat. “That’s unfair to the American people.”
In the House, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Jane Harman of California, the lead Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, introduced a resolution that calls on the president to develop a specific plan to improve the training of Iraqi security forces.
They said they fear the military is going to “break under the strain of continued operations.”
Both the Senate meeting and the House resolution are part of an increased effort by Democrats to sharpen their attacks on the president’s war policies.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., gave a speech Tuesday in which he accused Bush of “misleading statements and premature declarations of victory” in Iraq and prodded him to change course.
…
Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tried to introduce a measure that would have required the president to submit a report to Congress detailing a strategy for success in Iraq that would allow U.S. troops to return home.
“Each passing day confirms that the war in Iraq has been a grotesque mistake,” she said on the House floor before Republicans blocked her effort.
On Wednesday, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., called the Democrats’ rhetoric “reprehensible.”
What’s really reprehensible, Rep Cantor, is this damn war and the way it’s been justified and conducted.
I posted this late. The hearing began at 9:30 am ET. I will post more testimony updates from the news services as I find them and will transcribe what I can. But first – more tea.
I would love to hear someone ask why it is that we are pushing all children to achieve at a certain level on (dubiuos) tests, but asking for metrics of success and timetables and reports on progress when it comes to actual LIFE AND DEATH is ‘reprehensible’??
Why can’t the public submit questions to these people?
Thanks catnip. I just wanted to add that the prepared statements by Rumsfeld, General Myers, General Abizaid and General Casey are available on-line (thanks to rba for providing this link earlier)
Excellent. Thanks! Does rba have a diary up about the hearings as well? I just strolled in.
No, we were just muttering amongst ourselves in bood abides diary. I’ve been waiting on yours to be honest – thanks for taking this on.
Mind if I hop in with my pathetic transcribing skills?
Please jump right in. I’m not quite awake yet and the more people we have transcribing, the more accurate the picture becomes. Thanks!
[McCain challenged one of the generals who said that attacks were down in Iraq…the general said attacks on civilians were down…then he flip-flopped and said maybe they were up…a bit…but even so, there hasn’t been a significant move in the numbers as compared to one year ago…McCain said the fact there hasn’t been ought to be a cause for concern since the numbers should be going down…]
[McCain asked how many Iraqi units were trained – as opposed to the number of individual officers which has been a cause of much debate in the past…the general (Casey) basically said that’s classified info to which McCain responded that perhaps it shouldn’t be classified…(Chairman) Warner stepped in and said they could have a closed hearing about the numbers…]
[McCain raising questions about the Syrian border security…]
I don’t know of any reservists [who’ve gone to Iraq more than once unless they volunteered to…]
(Is that true?)
Kennedy – quite frankly it puts an addition burden on all of us to get it right in Iraq. ..it mean that we have a responsibility to get it correct… it’s the policy and the policy makers.. Rumsfeld – we are in serious trouble – you seriously and grossly mismanaged .. our troops are dying and there is no end in sight… quagmire…
You were wrong in 2002 when you told – WMD, and grave threat, and number of troops, you wrongly insisted there was no guerrilla war, quoting Rummy, …. You wrongly sent troops in without armor, quoting Rummy – you exaggerated our success – exaggerated training of Iraqi troops. You basically have mismanaged the war and created an impossible situation…. The american people deserve competency and the facts. In baseball it’s 3 strikes you’re out, so let me ask you – what does it take for the secretary of defense?
Rumsfeld – …… I will say that the idea that what’s happening over there is a quagmire is inconsistent with the fact – political progress over there – damn good job of training forces – number of troops going up – they’re never going to be like US forces, but they are capable of doing that that needs to be done…. They can be deployed….. a large number of them are police, they’re not supposed to be deployed…. They go guard the border, – full range – site protection people…. So I think that the comments you made are yours to make and I don’t agree with them…
Kennedy – errors and mistakes… Isn’t it time you resign?
Rummy – I’ve offered my resignation and the president has decided not to accept it.
[Christoff, GAO, Statement]
To Rumsfeld: as you know we are in serious trouble in Iraq and this war has been concictently and grossly mismanaged…we are in a quagmire…you were wrong in Sept 2002 when you ytold the committee that there wouldn’t be an escalaltion [in insurgent attacks]…you were wrong when you [estimated the number of troops required]…you were wrong when you called the insurgents dead-enders…you were wrong when you sent the [troops in without the proper equipment]…in Feb 2004 you told this committee we have accelerated the number [of Iraqi troops trained]…the American people deserve better…in baseball it’s 3 strikes and you’re out..what is it for the sec of defense…
(I missed other things Kennedy said Rummy was wrong about.)
Rummy: there’s no one at this table who believes this is a quagmire…[I didn’t paint a rosy picture]…I don’t think this is a guerilla war…it’s an insurgency…that’s a matter of semantics…it’s not a [crime]…[insurgents are dead-enders]…I don’t know what else you can call suicide bombers…[challenges Kennedy on numbers of Iraqi troops trained]…the idea that what’s happening over there is a quagmire [is not consistent with the facts]…[Iraqi troops]..they’re never going to be like US troops…(he’s very defensive here)…[talking about police trained as police – not as soldiers]…I think I must say I think the comments you made are certainly yours to make but I certainly don’t agree with them…
Kennedy: I’m talking about mistakes…isn’t it time for you to resign?…
Rumsfeld: Senator, I’ve offered my resignation…[it hasn’t been accepted]…
Myers: [it’s not a quagmire]
Abizaid: I’ve made my share of mistakes…but I’m standing by the secretary…
It appears to me that most who are critical of [what’s going on in Iraq] have never even been there….[slams the media for not giving an accurate picture]
(Well, Inhofe, you try reporting from Iraq when you can barely get out of the damn Green zone! Further to that, the WH is controlling the message and the war, so whose fault is it?)
why we are not getting out when the Iraqis have asked us to go, and GW said in January that we would go if asked??
please
please
please
Casey – recent polling across Iraq – they want to vote on the constitution..
Myers – Polling from 04 to May of this year… big surge of confidence… (shows graph of “Confidence”)
asked about how to bridge the credibility gap he says he didn’t have a plan like the one reed described
OMFG: now he’s saying that recruiting may be down but RETENTION is high — yes, Donny, it’s called STOP GAP, you asshole!
Second that…I have watched Rumsfeld before and I think he is just the sleeziest sack of sh….I have ever seen.
And that poll is nonsense, worth no more than our own recent presidential vote…who were these iraqi’s in the poll, ones working in the nice Green Zone with all the ammenities and supplies and electricity.
Stop Gap. I wish we could send Rummy over and put him into Saddam’s hidey hole for a while.
Reed – Mr. Secretary – What can you do to bridge the credibility gap? …. Broken army?
Rumsfeld – you said that even my own plan called for steep reductions. My plan didn’t … We had a plan that would have flown in as many troops as needed… it happened that …(it was perfect?) .. but to suggest that that is some error or mistake is inconsistent with the facts… The `broken army’ suggestion…(our military is fine) – retention is good… there are people who have undoubtedly served numerous times….those are individual volunteers…put their hands up…they want to be there…
Do we have sufficient civilian personnel to [take on the infrastructure development?]
Abizaid: blah blah blah…we’ve got to do better on this…
Reed: [how serious are we about this when we’re using volunteers?]…
(I’m a bit confused here. Must.have.tea.)
Reed: Casey, what is your estimate of how long we can sustain this level of violence?
Casey: political advances will impact on that…economic advances will impact on that…[insurgents have ammo stashed around Iraq]…I thik you’ll see that as the olitical process takes place here [you’ll see a reduction in violence]
Reed: I was there at Easter time [watching the political process and I don’t know that it’s had much of an effect]
Casey: blah blah blah…progress
Reed: [puts up chart on national confidence in government – numbers going down]…we have an erosion of trust and I think they also have a [perception that the US will be in charge for a long time]…[lost moral clarity with the Abu Ghraib scandal]…what can you say to bridge this credibility gap?…[I think we’ll end up with a broken army]…we have volunteer state dept people [trying to handle civic relations]
Rummy: you said even my own plan called for steep redcutions [in troop levels]…I didn’t have a plan like that…maybe Myers or Casey had one…[it came for the commanders on the ground]…[Rummy on broken army: yes we have some recruiting problems blah blah blah but they’re healthy]…there are people who’ve put up their hand and who’ve said I’ve been there and I want to go back…what are we doing about avoiding having a broken army?…we have something like 47 items to reduce stress on the forces…the implication that there’s an inattention or lack of concern about the stress on the army [is simply inacurrate]
Myers: we don’t have a more daunting threat than violent extremists…
Abizaid: I think it;s important that we never lose sight about [the insurgents movements towards WMD – chemeical, biological etc]
Catnip – when I saw that exchange, I couldn’t help think about Raising Arizona.
Abizaid: extremists want to get their hands on WMD, chemical, biological…
Then why are we in the ONE country we know WMD ain’t?
(We now interrupt the serious questioning of the witnesses in order to take part in some flagrant partisan butt kissing.)
Yes, he is now lying is fucking ass off about Newsweek [caused riots], yes, we have free speech, he says, but we have to be careful of what we say.
Who gives a flying FUCK about their confidence in their government — they have NO CONFIDENCE in us!! THAT is the issue you asswipes should be talking about — they want US OUT!
Where are the polls and charts that show what they think about US!!
What about the American people’s confidence in you assholes?!?
Can ANYone ask the questions that need to be asked??
ANYONE?
[I should stop watching these things, they just make me SOOO angry! I’m glad that zander and catnip are transcribing, all I can do is rant…]
Rant away! You have to let it out somewhere.
This guy to me? Alabama is a pretty mixed bag, but this guy is makes my skin crawl.
The riots were in Afghanistan – not Pakistan.
The enemy wants people to believe that we will ravage the countryside and steal their resources…
well, geee general, is it maybe because we have ravaged the countryside and stolen their resouces???
Now Myers is going on about perception management.
“the US military is the best ubran fighting force in the world”
What the hell is he smoking???
Sessions – … I don’t believe you should resign… , …this chart you’ve shown… (confidence polls in Iraq)… would you say that that is a critical question…isn’t that a source of encouragement for us?
Casey – encouragement for me – Iraqi confidence is high.
Sessions – the numbers are holding firm … even with increasing violence
Casey -… Next chart… pie charts… this is also important to me – it reflects ..they believe that their security forces are winning, professional, well-trained…
Someone – who did that poll?
Casey – I’ll get that to you.
Sessions – people around the world expressing themselves… we need to be careful about the comments we make – newsweek story- toilet….. our troops in Guantanamo show respect… we’ve had hearings on abuse – there is no proof of systematic abuse… punishment for abuse… I think the military has handled that well, but reading the newspapers… one would have a different conclusion… , false charges against our military… Your thoughts?
Abazaid – perceptions… our enemies want people to believe that we don’t respect them or honor islam… as long as we tell the truth and get that story out… the great untold story… people hate the extremists… false stories giving them the opportunity for hope… we will defeat them.
Ted President Kennedy!!
Now he is reading the quote about the FUCKING LIE he told about how the production was the problem and that has been totally disproved as FALSE!!
Will anyone call him on it, anyone??
Rummy is trying to justify his “you go to war with the army you have” comment. Give it up, Rummy. You say there was no “callousness” involved. BS.
(yawn)
This is just like all the other armed service hearing where Rumsfeld, et. al is present,
Oh I am just listening to Rums and he is trying to explain away you go to war with the army you have.
What about being prepared, what about ramping up production, and they still have not done that.
Think world war II, think of the ramping up we did then. Watching a House hearing the other day, members said why have you still not ramped up….
If you get any of them talking about training Iraqi forces please log a short synopsis. (Christoff’s testimony is damning…military training:
Oh f*ck it. Read the damn chart on page 8. Given the lack of weapons, vests, vehicles, support, it’s no wonder these guys aren’t ready. Someone at the top of the food chain is righteously killing these people. You can’t train a goddamn dogcatcher in 3 weeks.
Rumsfeld did earlier – they’re all doing wonderfully, and ‘deployment-ready’ isn’t an accurate way to look at it. He mentioned border-patrol agents, police, oil site security forces, etc…
Also earlier someone spoke about the categories of Iraqi troops – capable of functioning independently, capable of doing counter-insurgency ops with American support, capable of functioning in some capacity with consistent American hand-holding, etc… I didn’t catch all of it, and I’m unsure of who it was – sorry.
Writing a quickie diary now – they’re killing the Iraqis.
needed to train during those 3 weeks.
Clinton’s quoting
She is really going after Rove and by extension Bushco…
Repudiate! I dare you Rummy!
“You can’t kill enough of these people”
the war….
The people who want us to leave are the same people who hurt us on 9/11
What is going on and how do we correct that? he asked Rumsfeld
Rummy answers: given sufficient information, over time, people will make right decsions…
What the heck is he talking about??
He throws in that the people who are “trying to kill us there are the same people who tried to kill us on Sept 11”. Well, Graham, they wouldn’t be over in Iraq killing Americans if Bush hadn’t started this damn war! They weren’t there until Bush invited them with his “bring it on” rhetoric.
Clinton asks Rummy if he agrees with this quote from today’s NYT, without first telling him who said it:
Rummy responds that since he didn’t know what the context was and how he hates it when the media pulls out quotes that can be manipluated. IOW, he gave a non-answer.
Clinton goes on to talk about the seriousness of such partisan attacks.
Further, Democrats Demand Retraction From Rove
Good god.
Rummy: that’s the time when leadership needs to stand up and tell the truth (responding to the dwindling support numbers for the war).
Well, Rummy, you should have stood up and told the damn truth from the beginning.
Are we looking at another 5 years?
Myers – We don’t know.
And, I don’t want to answer that question.
Ah ha, finally, a bit of what I was looking for:
Bayh asks:
What are the metrics for success?
What are some benchmarks?
Myers – certainly not on this scale for 7 to 9 years… not in my mind.
The premise of the /insurgents are against democracy /is false and this is always repeated.
They simply do not want us there, anywhwere in the middle east, do not like our policies and our presence.
Well, there you have it, folks. Rummy has spoken.
To Rummy: how do we define success? when do we determine the country is stable enough? what benchmarks do we look to?
Rummy: I don’t know if youw ere here when gen casey made a comment estimating the size of the insurgency but it is nowehere near 4 or 5%.
Bayh: whatever
Rummy: in the last analysis if this goes on for 10, 12, 15 years it’s a problem for the Iraqi people…success for the US…liberating the Iraqi people, which is done…[leading them in the political process, which is done]…getting help from the international community…it is not our task to stay there forever…the success will be [when Iraq can basically manage their own situation]…success will be when the Iraqi people [are basically not under attack by Saddam tactics – chem attacks etc.]
Myers: objectives in the national security startagy for Iraq, which came from teh State Dept.
Myers is going through 7 benchmarks that we have ALREADY failed miserably in reaching….
I can’t fucking believe this.
Bayh just asked if they would be publishing the progress so that the American people can see them…
Myers said he would be happy to brief him.
Now THAT I would like to see.
Of hearings where the people testifying run out the clock on the questioners time with bull crapola answers.
I’d like to interrupt this discussion of benchmarks with a link to Riverbend’s latest post which talks about the growing permanent appearance of the Green Zone.
Seoul??
Her description of the Green Zone sound EXACTLY like the american bases in the middle of that city…..
And let me tell you, the south Koreans were none too pleased with us in 1993 when I was there….
anyway, this is OT, but the description just reminds me of those high walls, surrounding almost ALL of the (literally) green areas in the middle of that city…
hell is wrong with her voice????
I was thinking the same thing…
I think she may have a medical condition such as parkinsons, but her voice is always like that…
she has a medical condition…
She just sounded to supplicating and shaky.
Reserves and Guards:….I am wondering and always have what the hell we are doing with them there in the first place, we did not do it in Vietnam…why this war….Bush didn’t go, didn’t have to, but now he sends them,
Oh and myers apparently doesn’t know about all the men and women who have been redeployed against their will.
Lieberman – citing the fucking bible!!!
Joshua and Caleb and the destiny they have….
including purpose and national destiny…. (lovely)
Oh we liberated them,…..says Liberman…..(yeah we liberated them into an even worse situation than existed before.)..
Central battlefield now for terrorists, yeah, because we created this situation and grew the size of the terrorists movement….get a grip Liberman…
Yeah tell us more about all the good being done, yeah we will buy it….
Liberman is seriously going down the drain in my mind.
Rumsfeld – agrees with almost every word out of Lieberman’s mouth.
Do we need more troops? If we had a larger force, would we have a larger presence there?
I have to take a break – my daughter’s on the phone.
reg.support for war, Rumsfeld, oh my I just cannot stand to listen to him….Oh now he says our own borders are not safe, really and who’s fault is that????.
Yeah we need to support this illegal war….yeah just convince us how much more we need to do and spend and send our men, convince us….
Rums story is always the same…
Abizaid to Lieberman on troop strength..
Too much of a footprint in the region creates more resistance than people appreciate.
Congress and Admin. and these testifiers today….
What about they already asked us to leave,,,,what about that…
Yep.. That was one of my first posts on this thread.
Casey – If I need more troops, I’ll ask for them. … We’re looking ahead to October, we’re looking carefully. … Our troops and theirs – they are getting better faster. .. If we need more troops, we’ll ask for them.
their asses off. I just leased to a Marine that is scheduled for deployment to Iraq in March 0fucking6. I asked him about that and he said that they schedule deployments a couple of years at a time. he said he cannot see us leaving for at least five to ten years. Is that when haliburton and company will no longer find being there profitable? God, I hate these assholes.
Ensign – France has offered… some other countries have offered… we’re doing huge amounts of training. But the question, how do we get more countries to help with training, and how do we get the Iraqis to go along with that…?
Rumsfeld – We’re already training them outside of the country.
etc, etc – about France…
As one who has watched many, many of these hearing I can tell you if I didn’t know this was a current hearing I would swear it was 1 or 2 years ago.
Still talking about training on foreign soil, still not being done, troop strength, all of it still being talked about, we still do not know the plan, we still do not have answers..
Rumsfeld and Myers has not changed stories at all over these years…problem there.
Yeah Abazaid, you are not doing something right…this war for One thing……
War worth fighting,, people we are helping?????That would be Halliburton, would it not…
Ensign – to Abizaid – you’re a big boy and been in tough positions before. I want to ask you…. Recently we’ve had leaders who’ve talked about and compared troops in Guantanamo to Nazi’s. Does that damage our war efforts? Does it help recruitment for the enemy? Does it hurt morale of our troops?
Abizaid – I won’t comment on a person who said that but…. .I’ve seen high confidence there, and a lack of confidence in the beltway. When my soldiers ask if they have support from the american people – that worries me. When Iraqis ask about our staying power, that worries me too. …,…. We can’t win the war without your support and the support of the american people
Ensign – responsibility of choosing words carefully in time of war… freedom and responsibility…. If we are endangering our…, …or encouraging the enemy, we need to be careful about the words we choose.
Look out Rumsfeld!!!!!!
“there has been a good bit of speechifying, on both sides”
“It seems that the witnesses have all the time they want and not the Senators”
“Mr. Secretary, I have been watching you with some amusement…oops, but everyone has said that we have to watch what we say, so I will try to watch what I say”
“I have never seen a Sec. of Defence who likes to lecture the committee as much as you do”
The people up here have to go before the people out there…you may not like our questions, but we represent hte people..
I have had my fill of this administration forgetting that we have three separate but equal branches…
We ask the questions that the people ask us, whether you like it or not, the problem is that we didn’t ask enough questions in the lead up to this war…
and Rummy obliges by sitting there sneering like the smug sanctimonious asshole that he is..
Not Heard Enough of the Truth
We’re elected, you are not.
Get off your high horse when you come up here.
This is the constitution, we represent the people who send us here.
Byrd – Gonna’ be careful `bout what we say. I been here a long time. .., … I don’t think I ever heard a secretary of defense who likes to lecture the committee as much as you do, as much as you appear to.
Rumsfeld looks thoroughly disgusted.
Byrd – The problem is we didn’t ask enough questions at the beginning of this war – Mr Bush’s war. ..The press didn’t ask enough questions, the senate didn’t ask enough questions.
Whether you like it or not…. we have to ask questions.
Yeah Byrd, that’s right, tell him…classic Byrd today..
We don’t have time, says Byrd, to have these meetings, did not ask enough quesitons in the beginning….
Dressing down of Rumsfeld….(claps heard from my computer)….
Byrd – The american people are asking questions…. The american people haven’t been told the truth. They haven’t heard enough of the truth. I don’t mean to be discourteous, I’ve just heard enough of your SMART answers to these people here.
Get off your high horse when you come up here.
Byrd – I’ve asked this question from the beginning – what’s this war going to cost? And I get a sneer back….
We don’t get a budget from this administration… we get supplementals…
Cost of the War in Iraq
$178,547,560,620
From the cost of war clock as posted by susanhu, and still ticking on my blog. click on my tag line to see the ever increasing amount..
While I was watching and listening to Sen. Byrd, his hands shaking, his body frail, but his voice steady, it just seemed to me I was watching the last pleadings of a wonderful but failed experiment called the United States ….
Rumsfeld’s impatience and superior holier than thou demeanor is the road we are on and Sen. Byrd’s stately, dignified and passionate intelligence is a thing of the past.
I am having trouble putting it into words, but it just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Are you old enough to remember Nixon, Vietnam, etc. don’t despair it was even worse then, we have not yet reached that point with this war….
I shudder to think we may reach that point, but as yet we have not…IMO
Thanks for that, Diane. I was born in 1966, so no, not remember in the traditional sense of the word, anyway…..
It’s not so much that I feel that we have gotten there or that it couldn’t be worse, it’s that we LEARN NOTHING. As a seeker and a teacher that is what makes me cry.
Yes we learn nothing, truer words were never spoken..
To me this is like watching a replay of 40 years ago, as well as a replay of 20 or 10 years ago..
Hawks vs. Doves, the eternal struggle…
Policy on intervention, on non intervention, policy of nation building, or not… it is totally circular…and I don’t know why.
One of the problems is that younger people are just not fully aware of what occurred before, sure they may know it intellectually but not emotionally, having not been present at the time of history being made. and not haveing suffered along with us the oldsters. I am sure that the same was so with my grandparents with regard to me and my generation. If they were here now, I often wonder what they would say..what they would think, I personally think they would be very disappointed…at present state of affairs.
Do you mind if I ask you to share, the emotion part with me?
Right now I feel so lost, I hug my kids, my husband, I revel in their good health, their very exisitance, I try to be a good person, to make a difference, and to care, but I feel torn up inside, like I need to do more, change something more…oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about, really. I just feel sad, so very sad. I will not despair and I will get over it but at this moment, my tears are paralyzing me.
Thank you so much for engaging — I really need hear that I am not going crazy! 😉
WEll I will try, this is my memory of the past.
I’ll start with Kennedy, I was about 19 and newly married with one child. We of my generation were so happy that we finally had a president we could identify with and life was very good and peaceful for a brief time…Then came the assination. Our country and every one in it that was old enough to know what was happening was plunged into deep depair, for our country and for our future. We were in mourning and that lasted for a very long time.
On the heels of this came Vietnam and all of the attendant problems most notably of which was how it affected each family in the US in a personal way, as the war escalated. Then the draft and the lottery…My family, my friends, everyone I knew was living in fear of either being drafted or losing a loved one.
That war dragged on and on with full reporting and coverage of deaths and dying, on both sides. We saw the bodies of soldiers and citizens.
Then came Nixon and we were so hoping he would bring our troops home, people were in the streets, mass demonstrations, all over the news.
Watergate…eventually led to resignation of Nixon, and a whole bunch of the powers were consigned to prison.
But our country was once again or still in mourning.
Many of us oldsters are still in mourning from our past and as we see the present and future unfolding in this way we cannot help but remember, and that’s why many knew this whole war game all too well. We could see the progression it would take, and it did..
The only truly safe time I personall ever felt since my childhood, was the Clinton Years, and that of course was marred by allthe scandal and prevented Clinton from doing more in muy opinion..
If you can go on, then I can, and of course I must.
I don’t know what else to say right now…
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/6/23/11927/2644
I just put up this diary with your comments and mine for discussion of this subject.. Please go to that diary….I think we need this. Thanks……
‘We won’t attack US continent again, we will break you bit by bit, with economics and with with war losses, he said and we will break the bank of American (in essense). This is what is being done when we our government realize this…
Not his exact words but the jist of them…
Thanks for doing this. Good work and much appreciated.
Long and glowing report from the field being read. Email from soldier. Everything is hunky-dory.
Sure ask Badhdad burning or my Iraqi friend Diva, getting better??, water, schools, electricity…
Well yes if you think 2 hours of electricity of day and water on and off and dirty as hell in Baghdad..Schools, where are they and if they are, is it safe to even go to school. We know the answers.
Count on the Reps, to do this, every single time right up to the last days and the last throes of this war.
Dole – thanks, kudos – ad campaigns on Iraq TV – terrorism in the hands of justice – growing trend in Iraq to report insurgents..
Casey – large increase in the willingness of Iraqi’s to come forward. TV program national phenomenon – they see it’s just a `wimpy little man’ – hotlines for reports… we’re up over 1,700 tips on the hotline, grown since Jan – advertising since April. The other thing is walking in and pointing out weapons caches.. people directing and becoming more forthcoming.
Dole – in the past reconstruction… spread too thin – advocating more focused reconstruction in safer areas
Rummy – all 3 pieces go together – security forward – political …. Trying to put funds in areas (as bribery) and now putting funds into places as rewards for good behavior. It doesn’t take a genius to blow up something, it takes a genius to build something.
Casey – money used to influence support for us, not support for the insurgents..
The program they’re referring to is Terror in the Grip of Justice. This is disturbing beyond my ability or desire to go into, but I would recommend the TimesOnLine article from March which describes the show. Just a snippet…
Last week, to counter suggestions that the alleged offenders were anything but real, the programme-makers invited victims’ families to hurl abuse at the suspects and detail their bloody crimes.
hot line in Iraq…,,,,I would suspect that the hot line in Iraq,is used by citizens to punish people they don’t like, for vendetta’s, etc. as well as to report genuine terrorists.
A little like Germany when children were to report their parents and neighbors for speaking ill of the government. Wonder who set this system up, US I would hazard a guess. Like we don’t control everything there, sure….
To make it even better they could offer a cash reward and then it will really skyrocket.
Darn. I missed Byrd. 🙁
They usually rerun in the evenings on CSPAN 1 or 2
Dole – communications… comment on efforts to overcomes cultural barriers?
Casey – great progress on translators … additional 1,000 translators… extensive training in cultural context, to deal well with the Iraqis – what we’ll see is the more time spent working closely with the Iraqis, the closer those bonds will become.
Warner – for years – dealing with Sec of def `s – to Rummy – I’ve enjoyed our working relationship… I have full confidence in your ability under our courageous commander in chief.
Concluded..
This is from my Iraq diary yesterday, 22 June
OPERATION SPEAR
President Bush, last Saturday:
“We went to war because we were attacked,” said Mr. Bush, “and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens.”
When did the citizens of al-Qa’im attack the United States of America?
President Bush, last Monday:
“I think about Iraq every day – every single day!”
“I think about Iraq every day – every single day!”
(He said it over and over again.)
Think about this Mr. Bush, your bombs just killed 110 Iraqi civilians. They destroyed hospitals and sewage plants, water filtration plants.
More of what’s going on in Iraq right now:
-Today gunmen killed a former judge whose name once was on a list of Sunni Arabs joining a parliamentary committee to draft Iraq’s new constitution, officials said. Separately, a Filipino hostage was released after almost eight months in captivity.
-At least four people were killed in separate attacks Wednesday. A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi police patrol that included a special operations unit, killing two policeman and wounding two others in Madain, about 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, said police Maj. Raed Falah al-Mehamadawi said.
-explosion meant for a U.S. military convoy killed an Iraqi civilian and wounded three others west of Ramadi, Dr. Abdullah al-Dulaimi said.
-A U.S. soldier was killed Tuesday by small arms fire during combat operations in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, the military said. At least 1,725 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The new US Ambassador to Iraq:
“I am horrified by the daily suffering of the Iraqi people. The terrorists attack ordinary people, teachers, doctors, newly trained police and others who are assisting the people of Iraq,” Khalilzad added.”
Yes, Mr. Ambassador, but the US bombs are ALSO killing Iraqis and increasing their daily suffering one-hundred fold. The bombing is supposed to destroy the ‘terrorists’ but it is killing too many innocent people, increasing their suffering and increasing the tribal vengeance that is sure to follow.
———————————-
There’s no way I could listen to the military today but I will read the transcript of people like Senator Kennedy or anyone who speaks for the people of Iraq.
Thanks to everyone who transcibed the hearings!
Thanks for letting me play along…
if the House hearing will be on cspan, 1, 2 or 3
Not sure. Please put up a diary on their hearings if you’re willing. I’ve done my 2 diaries for the day and I’m taking a break to catch up on Canada’s Question Period.
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/6/23/11927/2644