Bush’s War of False Pretenses
President Bush told the nation Thursday night that General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have “concluded that conditions in Iraq are improving, that we are seizing the initiative from the enemy, and that the troop surge is working.”
Because of that, Bush added, “our success in meeting these objectives now allows us to begin bringing some of our troops home.” He said Baghdad is being saved.
“One year ago, Baghdad was under siege,” he said. “Schools were closed, markets were shuttered, and sectarian violence was spiraling out of control. Today . . . many schools and markets are reopening. Citizens are coming forward with vital intelligence. Sectarian killings are down. And ordinary life is beginning to return.”
Never mind that 1,099 US soldiers died from September 2006 to August 2007, the highest 12-month total and disproportionately accounting for 29 percent of the 3,780 recorded fatalities since the March 2003 invasion. The lowest number of monthly fatalities in that period was 70 in November, according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count (icasualties.org/oif/).
As needless as the war has always been, there previously were no more than three straight months of 70 or more US deaths. This month, the United States is on pace to lose another 76 service people.
Never mind either that the government’s own National Intelligence Estimate last month was nowhere as rosy as Bush’s assessment. The report said “there have been measurable but uneven improvements . . . the level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high; Iraq’s sectarian groups remain unreconciled; AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq] retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks.”
The report did not use the word “quagmire.” But it said that Iraqi security forces “have not improved enough to conduct major operations independent of the Coalition.” That means that the US military presence “remains critical.”
It remains so critical that Bush proposes to pull back only 20,000 troops, still leaving 140,000 in Iraq, still higher than when his “surge” began. To deflect from this deflating development, Bush once again tied the fear of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to Iraq even though Iraq and the executed Saddam Hussein had no tie to it.
“If we were to be driven out of Iraq,” Bush said, “extremists of all strains would be emboldened . . . We would leave our children to face a far more dangerous world. And as we saw on September 11, 2001, those dangers can reach our cities and kill our people.”
But in an amazing moment of candor, Petraeus said he could not say whether Bush’s war has mattered on this account. When Senator John Warner of Virginia, a member of Bush’s own Republican Party, asked Petraeus if the current strategy is making America safer, Petraeus said, “I don’t know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted that out in my own mind.”
We are 4 1/2 years into this war, and the Bush administration has not sorted out what we have done. Bush, by citing isolated examples of “how our strategy is working” and deluding himself about “the progress I have reported tonight,” is no different than when General William Westmoreland told the National Press Club about Vietnam War in 1967, “I am absolutely certain that where as in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing.”
Just like Bush, citing the reopening of schools, Westmoreland boasted that the United States “saw a civilian government installed, stabilized prices, opened roads and canals.”
Westmoreland’s assessment led President Johnson to declare three months later in a press conference, “so far as changing our basic strategy, the answer would be no. We see nothing that would require any change of great consequence. I see nothing in the developments that would indicate that the evaluation that I have had of this situation throughout the month should be changed.”
Bush, seeing no need for major changes other than his recent escalation, said Thursday, “Our troops in Iraq are performing brilliantly. Along with Iraqi forces, they have captured or killed an average of more than 1,500 enemy fighters per month since January.”
That is no different than Johnson bragging to the media in February of 1968 that 10,000 communist fighters were killed and 2,300 detained in the latest battles, compared to only 249 US fatalities. “I can count,” Johnson said. “. . . is that a great enemy victory?”
Johnson won the body count and lost the war. Bush has yet to see that his war is down for the count.
Derrick Z. Jackson’s e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.
© 2007 Boston Globe
America the Arrogant
To all here that realize what an utter disaster has befallen the United States, particularly anyone who is online from another nation, please, PLEASE, go to this link and sign this petition.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/unsanam2
I swear to you that, if I can get enough signatures and if I am not disappeared by DHS, I will hand deliver it to the United Nations. I understand that the UN is far from perfect but it’s the right idea and it’s really all we have left.
Nothing we do, as citizens will stop the demented assault by this country on the rest of the world. Even if the Democrats take over in 08 they will simply pick up where the Republicans left off.
Massive demonstrations in American streets will give Bush the excuse he’s looking for to invoke his royal decree; The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007, would place all governmental power in the hands of the President and effectively abolish the checks and balances in the Constitution. I’m sure he’s just chafing at the bit to take a test drive as Supreme Leader and to put all his nice detention centers to good use.
Patriotic Americans, please swallow your pride and join me in asking for help from the rest of the world. They have as much to loose as we do.
Petitions are a nice way to complain, but I don’t think the dirty rats in charge are bothered by them. A few hundred thousand strategically placed molotov cocktails might be a more effective way of getting their attention and showing them a better way forward.
aum33 September 15th, 2007 12:47 pm
PLEASE read the petition. It’s not aimed at our useless government. It’s going to the UN Security Council.
Your suggestion will do nothing but give the fascists the excuse they’re waiting for to declare martial law.
continuing to talk about the war in terms of how well its going or how badly really misses the point.
iraq is phase one of an american aggression having to do with grabbing control of the whole planet and all of the resources in it.
simple as that.
oil is the commodity that runs the engine of commerce and it is a finite resource. isn’t it rather clever of the bush regime to grab as much of it as they can?
after all, aren’t bush and cheney oilmen?
look america, those gas guzzlers you are driving need to be fed.
here’s the choice: watch the iraqis (or: insert your nominee here:________ any number of other places in other times) being slaughtered and robbed on tv or be unable to heat your home or drive your car.
what’s your answer?
OK, milesofmusic i choose “be unable to heat home and drive car”. I don’t mind wrapping up to stay warm or using a small fan powered by a battery connected to an inverter to stay cool. And as far as cars our concerned, they are the bane of the world……excepting maybe only to airplanes which are even worse…
Of course, i think there may be some other options if folks started thinking locally and letting it emanate out from there. Appropriate technology is one of my favorite concepts….
Peace,
Ken Hausle
If you like Iraq, you’ll love Iran.
I guess we’ll all just come here day after day, talk, and posture. One morning we’ll sit down at the keyboard and try to logon and find that we no longer have any access to the Internet. We’ll scratch our heads, look out the window, and see Blackwater “security” vehicles and personnel. We’ll turn on the TV, find out there’s only one channel available, and it will tell us to remain calm and stay in our homes until transportation arrives to take us to our designated labor camp. I’m sure, as long as they let us watch American Idol after working 20 hours each day, everything will be just fine.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/unsanam2
DO SOMETHING!
RoundAbout,
I signed the petition, but i added this note:
“I am concerned about some of the conditions cited particularly because many of the “behaviors” mentioned are not unique to the US of A. Regardless, the US of A has become a rogue state and poses the greatest danger from the standpoint of scale. Plus, the overall tone seems appropriate to me…Peace is what we need.”
Peace,
Ken Hausle
It’s a nice idea, but the UN security council is controlled by the same billionaire bastards who control the USA’s white house, state department, and so called “department of defense”. It is rotten to the core.
You might as well create a petition calling on greedy sons of bitches to stop being greedy.
Hard not to agree with MaxheMust there….but even so, there is value in folks reading the petition and thinking about what it means….
Peace,
Ken Hausle
nd then there was Pyrrhus, and his Pyrrhic victory.
You can read a micro-history of Petraeus on TV at http://diatribune.com/petraeus-eats-booger-national-tv.
Ken, I agree that some of the conditions are not unique to us. However, until this country is brought back to sanity NOTHING constructive can happen.
MaxheMust September 15th, 2007 1:53 pm
If I can get enough signatures it will at LEAST become “newsworthy.” I’ll make myself a nuisance at the UN if I have to. Unless I’m disappeared by DHS I’ll hand deliver it myself.
RoundAbout - I agree also. And, i think it is impossible for anyone to “disappear”. That makes no sense, and anyhow our loved ones would be sure to get to the bottom of it and find out what happened.
Chertoff does seem spooky, but i think he is hollow.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
YOU DO NOT HONOR THE TROOPS BY:
LYING ABOUT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN 9/11 AND IRAQ;
MAKING BIG PROFITS OFF THE WAR AND SHARING THEM WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY;
BEING MISERLY ABOUT THEIR BENEFITS ONCE THEY BECOME VETERANS;
PUTTING PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR YEARS AND TORTURING PRISONERS AND NOT GIVING THEM ACCESS TO LAWYERS AND THEIR DAY IN COURT — SHREDDING ALL RIGHTS UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION, WHICH OUR TROOPS BELIEVE THEY ARE DEFENDING;
BY KEEPING THE TROOPS IN COMBAT BEYOND THEIR TIME OF SERVICE;
SAYING THAT THEIR SACRIFICES ARE A SMALL PRICE TO PAY TO MEET WHAT BUSH BELIEVES IS OUR COMMON GOAL, BUT HE MEANS GOLD (THE BLACK KIND, IN THE GROUND, CALLED OIL)
Derrick,
Thanks for your constant stand against Bush’s adventures in Iraq, a stand that you have taken early, often, and with considerable clarity. What a shame it is that Petraeus is viewed as such a sacred cow. Hearing that Kerry reacted with disgust to the MoveOn ad made me shudder. It brings to mind that the only comparison between the Swift Boat campaign which was pure smear and the MoveOn ad which at worst was ‘politically incorrect’ is that they involved the use of newspaper ads. When Kerry was attacked by the SwiftBoaters he failed to respond forcefully where it would have been fully justified. And now he feels he can raise his eyebrows at the incivility of the MoveOn ad. Of course, Kerry also muffed the vote to allow Bush to colonize Iraq, so I suppose he has consistently shown his true nature - spinelessness. But he’s not alone.
Our children are being killed or permanently maimed as we follow in frustration the slogging pace of Washington politics. Bush essentially hides behind Petraeus, protected by the general’s uniform. I’m sure the general is a fine man who performs his duties honorably, but please read
the 2004 article cited by MoveOn.Org which shows the same rosey optimism
worded in such a way (spun?) as to suggest that certain milestones in the development of an independent Iraqi military have already been met.
https://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html Scroll down the page to the beginning of the reproduced article. He bases his current analysis again on soldierly optimism that is useful in winning on the battlefield but comes up short when the only victories that can save Iraq are political ones.
In response to Senator Warner’s question is America safer as a result of our attack on Iraq, Petraeus responded “I don’t know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted it out in my mind”.
This is a 4 star general who has not thought about the overall mission in Iraq! What are we there for? This should be the primary question that a military leader asks. The fact that Petraeus has not asked it and worse, has not even bothered to think about it, is truly scary. This is the man our president puts his faith in? This is the man our media raves over as being a great general? A great general would want to know why we are invading a country and what we hope to accomplish at the cost of so much death and destruction. We have destroyed a country and he is so busy arranging more killings that he doesn’t even think about why or whether we are actually accomplishing anything useful with all the horror we have inflicted?
I’m surprised that none of the pundits writing about this tragic war has not commented on this. Many have listed the quote, but none I have read have commented on its deeper implications.
“I guess we’ll all just come here day after day, talk, and posture.”
As long as it’s posture and not imposture. It’s impossible to separate posturing from preparation until actiong begins.
“One morning we’ll sit down at the keyboard and try to logon and find that we no longer have any access to the Internet. We’ll scratch our heads, look out the window, and see Blackwater “security” vehicles and personnel.”
So far they’ve managed to get the opposition to remain satisfied with exhortations and non-threatening actions; the theft of the treasury is going exceedingly well from their perspective, why create provocations?
“We’ll turn on the TV, find out there’s only one channel available”
Since opposition is limited to some PBS programming (ever less), 3/5ths (mostly) of Keith Olbermann & the documentaries that wind up on cable channels, why eliminate the other channels? Far better to offer people thousands of inconsequential choices than so narrow their range that oppression becomes evident. ‘Repressive tolerance’, anyone?
and it will tell us to remain calm and stay in our homes until transportation arrives to take us to our designated labor camp.”
See “My Dinner with André” again –
Iraq is not Vietnam, Bush is not Johnson.
Most, if not all of the media’s examples of failure in Iraq use Bush’s framing the question of why we are there, i.e., removing our old ally Saddam, and replacing him with Freedom and Democracy.
Bush, make no mistake about it, is on track. We will leave Iraq with what-ever, but we will take the oil. Then it’s on to Iran. Simple-in, simple-out.
The oil will NOT be taken because it does not belong to the US of stinking A. It belongs to the People of Iraq and they are RIGHTLY defending it.
If there are some foolish unlearning neo-cons who think they can continue the chaos, they are going to learn otherwise…..just like those who think they are somehow superior…..
If you don’t think this is so, well time will tell….
Bush doesn’t have a Johnson…or he would have GONE to Vietnam
OK, milesofmusic i choose “be unable to heat home and drive car”.
——————-
that is the correct answer but how many people would be there warming up with you i wonder.
i was playing devil’s advocate to a degree (i do not support bush) but i was raising a practical consequence of the decision to get out of iraq.
(the larger issue is the issue of america the terrorist state, the refuge of corporations who bring us genetically modified food, chinese toys, globalization, and now, finally, hallelujah, the war without end.)
my point is that it is all about choices.
voting is a choice.
so is going green, parking the suv, turning out the lights in a room when there is no one in it.
the choices are not all about dying in the name of the cause. most of the decisions are little ones.
we see quite a lot of resistance in the us taken by cities. smaller political bodies, like city councils, who are more accountable to real people are on the vanguard (sad they are on their own as well) of resistance to the government agenda.
there are citizen pockets here and there.
they are powerful.
not as powerful as a room full of bought and paid for senators and congressmen but there are choices you can make there as well.
we are not powerless.
we are, rather, unable to access our power.
gee wouldn’t a leader be good to find somewhere?
starislon2 is probably right: Iraq, and Iran, then on to Venezuela. We demand democracy, but really can’t tolerate democracy in action. We don’t even have a real democracy at home anymore. It is a farce to keep people thinking we are free. Any freedoms we might have had have been dissolved with Bush’s signing statements made under the table in the middle of the night in secrecy.
milesofmusic:
nice post
thanks..
killed an average of more than 1,500 enemy fighters per month
Translation: Those who defend their country are our enemy. Shallow.
milesofmusic__please wait to talk about saving on utilities until after the football season is over. We need all those lights to see our games and we need lots of gas to get us to the stadiums, and if we stay home we need heat and TV. Just give Betrayus another six months to fix Iraq and then everything will be ok anyway. It will only take a few hunderd US lives and a few thousand more injured, plus another 150 billion or so to get the job done, so don`t worry!
Dichterfreund September 15th, 2007 4:58 pm
Poet friend
Your socio/political analysis is breathtaking.
No offense intended. Sarcasm comes naturally to me.
I’ve never seen the movie.
I prefer mindless action full of gratuitous violence and casual sex.
Having someone actually enslaved, say in a labor camp, is much less costly, simpler in terms of logistics, and less susceptible to anomalous incidents than convincing them that they’re NOT actually enslaved. It eliminates all the little deceptions and manipulations, the bells and whistles of maintaining a fantasy world for the slave population. Kind of like the Matrix without the VR.
Besides, it’s much more fun for fascist oppressors of all ages.
When do we form a resistance?
well i woke up today to see a refreshing bit if honesty in the news headlines, obviously something went awry.
alan greenspan has come right out and said, in his new book, his long awaited memoirs:
“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows. The Iraq war is largely about oil.”
http://itn.co.uk/news/4bf861a8849633f63d83659ca09cb689.html
this from fox news: “Greenspan, a lifelong Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired,” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296938,00.html
fox goes on to say: “Britain and America have always insisted the war had nothing to do with oil.”
then to say: “Bush said the aim was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and end Saddam’s support for terrorism.”
fox of course is lying their asses off their because saddam had no wmd and hated aq, which bush, cheney and co knew full well. so those are not the reasons, not surprised to see fox drop the “reality” ball once again..
let me help them, these poor bastards at fox who can’t keep the lies coming any more with any sense of professionalism;
we went to war to get revenge/pay back for 9/11 and to get bin laden.
that is what bush was saying.
that was before he was saying that bin laden was only one man and he “wasn’t thinking about him too much.”
when discussing bush its not hard to believe he was thinking about anything too much.
today’s revelation by chairman al should put to rest a lot of the debate on why we went in.
now sit back and watch the whitehouse, jewish lobby and gop wannabes eviscerate the guy who was “their man in amsterdam” for what - 18 years.
dershowitz may be lead mutt on this.
i predict it will be a large assault but their problem is that greenspan was/is pretty well respected and at 81 years of age it may seem unbecoming to put the boots to an old man.
fox news will be on the forefront of that initiative, i suspect using their ultra professional segue : “some people are saying…”
The bush strategy is like a dog chasing its tail, spinning in circles, going nowhere, accomplishing nothing.
Georgie is following Johnson, literally. The puppet master has been trying to help the decider to decide what “Peace Offensive” really means. He seems to be stuck on stupid.
They could always use the money stolen from the Treasury to buy some oil from Iraq.
Besides, soon Poppy Pyrrhus and Mommy Pyrrhus will buy Baby Pyrrhus a TV station that only plays a Victory movie starring Baby Pyrrhus. And then everybody can come home except for the troops that have to guard the pipelines
What if W gave a speech and no one listened?
Why is there endless analysis of what amounts to worthless drivel? W gives a speech; it’s all lies; ignore it.