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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (164389)	6/17/2005 10:30:10 PM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 281500

"Don't Want to be Used" Capt. William Guenther in Baghdad: Sir, I hoping that you could possibly help me with this. Maybe you can't, but I'll have gotten it off my chest. I am an Army officer that is just beginning a year long tour in Iraq, as an advisor with the Iraqi Special Police Commandos. While I have every reason to believe that I will return home safety in eleven months, my eyes are also open to the possibility of that not being the case. The reason I am writing you is that I have just read your article about what Susan Paynter wrote about the Marine "kidnapping" in Seattle. At the end of your article, you mentioned that you were somewhat taken aback by the fact that just a week or so earlier she had written a tribute to those who had lost a loved one. I went to her paper's Web site to read that article. Sure enough there it was: another story about a soldier, or their family, as victim. And typically they are portrayed as a victim of George Bush or Donald Rumsfeld. In and of itself that isn't a problem, but in so many cases that is all soldiers over here are to the elite: victims… or in the case of the favorite story to come out of this war, Abu Ghraib, villians. Anyway, I looked further into what Ms. Paynter had written recently, and there it was: an article about an "artist", Phil Hansen, who had created a "war collage" where he painted the faces of every dead soldier or Marine over a picture of George Bush. Ms. Paynter was very understanding of how Mr. Hansen was "showing his support for the troops," but that they had died because Bush had misled the country. Which brings me to my point. I thought about it before I got over here, and feel even stronger about it now that it may be my reality. God forbid, if something happens to me over here, I do not want to be used by the likes of Phil Hansen in Seattle, Michael Moore, Gary Trudeau, or Ted Koppel, to make their political points against the war, the President, and finally the country, all the while saying "they support the troops". I have no doubt in my mind that Michael Moore would rather hear a report that 600 soldiers were killed last month in Iraq rather than 60 — but he "supports the troops". Anyway, are you aware of any list that is around that soldiers could put their name on so that if something happened, while understanding our families couldn't stop it, that these despicable phonies would be asked not to use our deaths to further their agenda that runs completely counter to why I volunteered to be where I am and counter to the real desires of 99 percent of the Iraqi people? I have a wife and a four year old son. Truly my biggest concern is how selfish I have been to leave him for a year, and possibly allowing him to grow up never truly knowing his father. I have discussed this with my wife, I don't want him ever to believe that he or his father were victims of his country, which I love even more after being away from it again. Again, if you are aware of any such petition please let me know. I haven’t been able to find any petition like that, but maybe the greater NRO community knows of something. If I get any information I’ll let you know as soon as I can." media.nationalreview.com Message 21424625

To: geode00 who wrote (164389)	6/18/2005 1:42:45 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

When Scott McClellan can't defend Dick Cheney's comments, you know the Bush gang is having trouble... Earlier this week, Cheney told CNN's Larry King that the insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," and insisted that violence in the country "will clearly decline." It's prompted some to suggest that the vice president is, unfortunately, delusional. At yesterday's press briefing, ABC correspondent Terry Moran asked McClellan to explain what Cheney meant and why the nation should believe him. It didn't go well. Q Scott, is the insurgency in Iraq in its 'last throes'? McClellan: Terry, you have a desperate group of terrorists in Iraq that are doing everything they can to try to derail the transition to democracy. The Iraqi people have made it clear that they want a free and democratic and peaceful future. And that's why we're doing everything we can, along with other countries, to support the Iraqi people as they move forward…. Q But the insurgency is in its last throes? McClellan: The Vice President talked about that the other day — you have a desperate group of terrorists who recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq. A free Iraq will be a significant blow to their ambitions. Q But they're killing more Americans, they're killing more Iraqis. That's the last throes? McClellan: Innocent — I say innocent civilians. And it doesn't take a lot of people to cause mass damage when you're willing to strap a bomb onto yourself, get in a car and go and attack innocent civilians. That's the kind of people that we're dealing with. That's what I say when we're talking about a determined enemy. Q Right. What is the evidence that the insurgency is in its last throes? McClellan: I think I just explained to you the desperation of terrorists and their tactics. Q What's the evidence on the ground that it's being extinguished? McClellan: Terry, we're making great progress to defeat the terrorist and regime elements. You're seeing Iraqis now playing more of a role in addressing the security threats that they face. They're working side by side with our coalition forces. They're working on their own. There are a lot of special forces in Iraq that are taking the battle to the enemy in Iraq. And so this is a period when they are in a desperate mode. Q Well, I'm just wondering what the metric is for measuring the defeat of the insurgency. McClellan: Well, you can go back and look at the Vice President's remarks. I think he talked about it. Q Yes. Is there any idea how long a 'last throe' lasts for? McClellan: Go ahead, Steve…. thecarpetbaggerreport.com

To: geode00 who wrote (164389)	6/18/2005 7:58:28 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Enabling Evil __________________________________________________ lewrockwell.com <<...Why has Congress voted still more money for an illegal war launched in deception? Why does the US military permit its human and physical resources to be squandered in a pointless war that has no strategy for victory and no timetable for withdrawal? How can America be so dominated by a lame-duck president that it loses all sense of itself, its honor, and its purpose? Americans are complicit in the deaths and maiming of thousands of American soldiers for no valid purpose. Americans are complicit in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi women and children as "collateral damage." No one knows how high the number is because the Bush administration does not regard Iraqi lives as worth counting. Bush’s war of deception has devastated Iraq. Cities and towns are in ruins. Infrastructure is destroyed. Half the population is unemployed. Pollution and disease are rampant. By continuing to defend Bush’s lies, right-wing talk radio, Fox "News," the Weekly Standard, National Review, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, the NY Post, the NY Sun and the rest of the neocon establishment are Bush’s willing executioners. The neocon media differs not at all from the Nazi propaganda machine. The neocon media fosters the same hatred and blood lust: kill the Iraqis, invade Syria, bomb the Iranians, devise "useable nukes" to subdue the Muslims, kill the American traitors who criticize our Führer, bend the world to our exceptional will. How much more shame and complicity will Americans allow Bush and his neocon brownshirts to shovel onto their shoulders before Americans say "enough!" and remove from office the war criminal who has sullied America’s good name?....>>