Read my lips: If the threat to American has increased, it would be larger if not for our efforts. THINK man. Those folks would walk all over America if allowed. If Gore were President and Iraq never were liberated from Saddam, they would still try(with gusto). If we listened to them and didn't fight back at all, they'd certainly likely succeed best and sooner.
Think? What I think is that we are being led by a bunch of amateurs. I think their understanding of the world is badly skewed. I don't think that they or you understand the nature of our enemy.
The shock and awe was the prelude to the war. The actual war started on 1 May.......and it is ongoing. Israel is a superpower in the ME. In the three wars since its independence, it defeated Arab country after Arab country. Flash forward to the 21st century.....terrorists are killing more Israelis than any Arab country ever did.
By attacking Iraq, we did not minimize our risk of attack but instead opened up a pandora's box. All over the world, American property and interests will be subject to attack. Our European allies who have had more experience with Muslim terrorists tried to warn us but Bush wouldn't listen. I am hoping attacks in the continental US will be minimized to some degree because we are physically removed. This war could go on for many years. Our economic well being and our freedoms will be in jeopardy. That's what your president has unleashed upon us.
And now there is dissension among the inmates of the asylum:
famulus.msnbc.com
Republicans fret over Rumsfeld's drag on his party
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a leaked memorandum, forecast that America faced a ''hard slog'' in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the same can be said about Rumsfeld's own political fortunes.
Knowledgeable Republicans and defense analysts described mounting frustration with Rumsfeld in the White House and among Republicans in the U.S. Congress amid ongoing difficulties in Iraq that could jeopardize U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election bid in 2004.
''Rumsfeld has become in many ways a problem for the Republican Party. And you can make the case that he's become a net liability given how the Iraq issue has unfolded,'' said Brookings Institution defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon. ''If the president's re-election bid is now in some doubt, it's more because of the problems in Iraq than any other single factor.''
The last three weeks have been tough for Rumsfeld, a dominant player in national security and foreign policy during Bush's three years in office.
Bush recently ended Rumsfeld's supremacy in U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan by naming Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser, to coordinate those efforts.
Bush then was forced to repudiate comments about Islam by a general who Rumsfeld put in a key intelligence post. Rumsfeld has not condemned the remarks by Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who called America's battle with Muslim extremists a duel with ''Satan,'' and said Muslims worship an ''idol'' not a ''real God.''
And the ''slog'' memo, released by the Pentagon after it appeared in USA Today, showed Rumsfeld harbored private doubts about progress in Iraq and against al Qaeda at the same time Bush and others were touting accomplishments in those efforts.
On CBS' ''Face the Nation'' program on Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democratic presidential candidate, said Rumsfeld was largely to blame for the administration's lack of planning for post-war Iraq and should be replaced for ignoring uniformed military advisers.
''Judgment about whether he stays or not is up to President Bush. But if I were president, I would get a new secretary of defense,'' Lieberman said.
A well-placed Republican source said Rumsfeld was not currently in danger of being replaced, but doubted he would return as defense secretary if voters give Bush another term.
''I think Rumsfeld has had it. He's put in place some (Defense Department) reforms, and now it's up to others to implement it,'' the source said.
The Republican thought Rumsfeld himself leaked the memo. In it, Rumsfeld said America had not made ''truly bold moves'' in fighting terrorism, had garnered ''mixed results'' against al Qaeda, and asked, ''Are we winning or losing the global war on terror?''
'CLASSIC RUMMY'
''It's classic Rummy,'' this Republican said. ''It sends a shot across the bow of the White House that (says), 'Don't mess with the other side of the Potomac.''' The Pentagon sits across the Potomac River from Washington.
''I get the sense that Rumsfeld is a man who understands that to leave his stamp on the department ... he doesn't have much time left,'' added analyst Charles Pena of the Cato Institute.
Bush to a remarkable degree had entrusted Iraq policy to Rumsfeld, including pacification and reconstruction as well as incubating a new Iraqi government.
But law and order remains elusive, as illustrated by Sunday's rocket attack on the hotel where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying during a visit to Baghdad.
The death toll mounts for U.S. troops amid daily attacks by a shadowy resistance. The U.S. military is straining to maintain troop levels. And some U.S. allies and Iraqis want a speedier return of sovereignty.
''At this point, blaming Rumsfeld isn't going to be in any way a solution. It is not clear that (Secretary of State Colin Powell) or Miss Rice are in any way more competent than Secretary Rumsfeld is,'' said analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Pentagon relations remain tense with some Republicans in Congress, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner of Virginia and Sen. John McCain of Arizona. A Senate Republican aide said dissatisfaction with Rumsfeld was ''pretty broad'' among congressional Republicans and ''Warner's clearly not happy.''
Warner on Friday issued a statement noting ''differences'' with Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld on Tuesday said a Pentagon inspector general's probe of Boykin was prompted by the general's own request even though Warner had written him a letter seeking such a probe.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. |
