This makes me sad. No, angry. Okay, both. Bear with me, this is a rantata for sure…
Russ Feingold, a Senator I respected for voting against IWR has just posted on dkos a diary on Iraq – Iraq: Looking Back, Looking Forward. So far so good, yes, we NEED to look back as well as look forward.
But he doesn’t. No, he specifically says this:
It’s important to talk about how we got into this war to begin with. But what’s more important now is that the President, who didn’t plan effectively for war in Iraq in the first place, acknowledge and respond to the current realities and get our Iraq policy, and our national security focus, on track.
Now, most would say, ‘well that sounds reasonable. We’re there now and we need an exit strategy.’ True.
But, it is NOT “more important now” for Bush to “acknowledge and respond to the current realities”, it is of CRUCIAL importance NOW that this treason never be allowed to occur again, or the Republic is lost.
The President of the United States LIED to send the country into war. He authorized torture that is still on-going and still official policy. He is holding people without trial or charges. He has destroyed liberty and the Constitution. And THIS is not what is IMPORTANT now? Bullshit Russ.
How about this, if you think what is most important is a timetable for withdrawl then take your plan to the people instead of hoping Bush will finally do the right thing… I feel like I’m watching the definition of insanity play itself out in front of me…
Instead of sitting on your hands waiting for Bush to tell the country what he plans to do in Iraq, perhaps the DEMOCRATS could come up with a plan to present to the American public? My fucking lord, what the hell is wrong with this party? Even it’s most liberal members have no clue what it means to be in Opposition… man I miss Wellstone.
But Feingold is parsing his words and playing the politician… how else to explain the following in the same, short, diary?
On Veteran’s Day, the President gave yet another speech trying to defend his Iraq policy. He uttered over 5800 words, but not once did he provide the American people any timeframe for our military mission in Iraq or any sense that he has a plan for bringing that mission to a successful end. Instead, he used the same platitudes and empty rhetoric that the American people have already made clear they don’t buy.
You know what else he did in that speech Russ? He laid out his case for invading Syria too… but I guess that isn’t a pressing issue to discuss either, let’s just let history repeat itself and move forward as Nero continues to fiddle.
One other thing… too bad your fellow Dems weren’t shouting about his empty rhetoric back when he gave his “Axis of Evil” speech… coulda saved a whole lot of lives… and the American people realized this on their own after Katrina… thank god for that hurricane to finally expose their criminal incompetence eh? ‘Cause hot damn, the Dems would never have been able to do it on their own since they keep talking about what a swell guy he is while accepting a new nickname… Sorry for being so harsh Russ, but this is not 1990, this is almost 2006, the country is in ruin, the whole world hates you, and people need to know that the Dems STAND for something other than asking politely that the president please do his job…
So, before I continue ranting about Russ, it’s only right to give his plan a fair hearing…
In August, I put forward a target date to complete the military mission there – December 31, 2006 – in an effort to break the taboo among my colleagues against even talking about a plan to complete that mission.
I am pleased that the silence has finally been broken and this week the Senate will be voting on an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill that, in part, calls on the President to report to Congress with a flexible timetable to finish the military mission in Iraq and bring American troops home.
While this amendment, which I drafted with several Democratic colleagues, is a pretty modest proposal, it is clear that an increasing number of elected officials are finally realizing what a majority of Americans already know – that the President’s “stay the course” rhetoric isn’t a strategy for success. In fact it isn’t a strategy at all.
Over two and a half years since the brave men and women of our Armed Forces were sent into war in Iraq, they are still waiting for what they should have gotten at the war’s onset- a clear, realistic military strategy with a flexible timetable for achieving our mission. The American people, and our troops in Iraq, have been waiting for that for far too long, and we can’t afford to wait any longer.
Sounds not so bad right? Not in my book. He is playing right into the neocons hands.
Is a timetable for withdrawl all that’s needed? Really? Wow, that’s awesome, I had no idea. So, just give the troops a flexible timeline and all will be right with the world? And as for that timetable… have we learned nothing from Bush yet people?? If you give him “flexible” as an opening then the troops are never fucking leaving. There will always be a reason to extend the timeline due to “changing circumstances”… like an invasion of Syria. Or “attacks” on the oil pipelines.
And then the coup d’ grace… what is it Russ that the troops should have gotten at the war’s start? Right, a strategy. All well and good of course, and absolutely true under normal circumstances, but you know what they really should have gotten at the start and what they deserve now?
A Democratic party who didn’t buy the fucking lies that Bush was spewing back in 2002. You know, like the millions of the rest of us around the world didn’t buy it. Remember all those anti-war marches? Not everyone was drinking the kool-aid and THAT is what the brave American soldiers deserved.
Not to be sent to Iraq to begin with, not a fucking military strategy to win the war. Or are we still on the “Powell Doctrine” kick to make you seem like you aren’t “soft on the military”?
And if you, the most “liberal” member of the Senate left doesn’t get that, I weep for the Democratic party all over again… because you know what, you don’t deserve to determine national security strategy if you don’t.
And finally… how on earth can you say “achieving our mission” in Iraq with a straight face? The mission was bullshit. The mission was a power grab & oil. The mission was destroying Mesopotamia. The mission was giving Halliburton and KBR new contracts. The “mission” was based on LIES. So excuse the fuck out of me Russ if I care not one bit if the US ever achieves that mission… well, I should say… continues to achieve that mission.
For the parting words, I leave you with this interpretation of Bush’s “revisionist history” schtick…
However, the President’s recent efforts to suggest that those who question the basis for war are undermining our troops smack of desperation.
No sir, it does not smack of desperation, it smacks of McCarthyism, Orwell and fascism and it’s about time the Oppostion party realized, truly realized, what they are dealing with here.
2006 is right around the corner and if you lose then (which, if you have any kind of brain on your shoulder you would be screaming about Diebold and the suppression of minority votes, but whatever, that’s too much to ask I suppose), the Republic is finished. I would appreciate it if you and your fellow party members would take that to heart.
Cross posted @ Jaded Reality
