What if you gave a War and no one cheered?

What if you gave a great big hyped speech and no one cheered? What if you staged your speech at a great big army base to insure a friendly, supportive audience? And what if those big supporters just sat there in stony silence?:

"Most striking was the eerie silence in the room. There were no shouts of HOOAH -- the military salute -- and only a single burst of applause during the 28-minute speech. The White House had allotted 40 minutes for the remarks. Without the applause that may have been anticipated, Mr. Bush wrapped up in just 28 minutes."

"Compare that to his triumphant speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, when he spoke in front of a crowd of sailors and announced that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. "The United States and our allies have prevailed," he declared. That address was interrupted 22 times by raucous applause from the service men and women on deck with the president. And the military setting was front and center."
-News report from PBS

My, my, how times they do change . . .

My, my, how the silence it does ring as loud as any bell . . . across the land! and, where oh where are all those brave chicken-hawk flag waving, chest thumping 'patriots' now? Their silence, it is deafening . . .

Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave . . .

"OH, WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE . . ."
- Sir Walter Scott

That Neo-Cons & their figurehead "Sparky De Fraud" stampeded our country into an illegal war by using lies, deceit, faulty and manufactured 'intelligence' is becoming quite clear.

However, winning a war by lying is another matter isn't it?

Unfortunately, it isn't their lily white butts which are on the line though. The ones in Harm's Way are some of America's finest. Sincere, patriotic young American men and women are dying daily because of deceitful lies.

A lie is never unintentional is it, no matter how wonderful the intent may be!

"And, It Shall Come to Pass"

PREDICTION -1:
An Iraqi invasion would mobilize the Arab & Muslim world to fight the US;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
The US led invasion of Iraq has resulted in the biggest single recruitment cause
in the Muslim world since the Crusades;


PREDICTION -2:
An Iraqi invasion will be very costly in lives and casualties;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Over 1700 US military deaths, over 400 civilian deaths, over 1925 ‘coalition’ deaths, An unknown but estimated over 25,000 civilian Iraqi deaths and over 100,000 wounded so far;


PREDICTION-3:
An US led invasion of Iraq will result in a drastic loss of respect for the US in world opinion;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Respect for the US and our country’s foreign policies are at their lowest ebb in recorded history;


PREDICTION -4:
An invasion of Iraq will make the world less secure;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
The entire world waits uneasily for the next attack. Worldwide since 9/11 there have been dozens of terrorist attacks resulting in many hundreds of deaths and thousands of casualties;


PREDICTION -5:
A US invasion of Iraq will very costly in terms of money and resources;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Over $400 billion dedicated as direct war costs so far (with much of it going to VP Cheney’s HALLIBURTON corporation) and. Security precautions in the US and overseas are costing additional trillions of dollars and resulting in unprecedented inconvenience to travelers and businesses everywhere. The drain on the US treasury has resulted in a flatlined economy in the US well below the levels when this administration took office;


PREDICTION-6:
An invasion of Iraq without a credible exit strategy will result in an endless quagmire resembling the Vietnam War;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
US troops are increasingly besieged and attacked by a seemingly endless supply of ‘insurgents’ and must go into heavily fortified base camps at night, abdicating all other territory to the enemy - exactly like in Vietnam. Casualties are increasing daily and no westerner dares proceed without heavily armed escorts;


PREDICTION -7:
The American people will not long support a war with high casualties and no exit strategy;

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Latest US opinion polls show 59% opposed to the war, and 59% and believe Bush has mishandled the war. Further, 56% have an unfavorable overall opinion of Bush as President, the worst in US history at t his point in a presidency;

Serve Your Country Now!

I am a conservative - the real sort who is actually 'conservative' and not just someone who agrees with a so-called 'conservative' dogma which is nothing of the kind. I really, truly actually served my 4 plus years of active duty with the US Marine Corps way back when. And I most heartedly agree with the comments below someone sent to me:

CONSERVATIVES MUST SHOW AMERICANS THEIR PATRIOTISM - - VOLUNTEER FOR MILITARY DUTY NOW!

WHY ASK SOMEONE ELSE TO DIE FOR YOU IN THE IRAQ WAR? (LIKE GW BUSH HIMSELF AND MOST OF HIS ADMINISTRATION DID DURING THE VIETNAM WAR?)

C'MON YOU GUYS! ... actual VETERANS are getting PRETTY sick and REALLY tired of hearing about "PATRIOTISM" and "LOVING AMERICA" and "FREEDOM" and BRINGING DEMOCRACY to the MIDDLE EAST" (HEY! Did they forget and leave out Saudi Arabia?) ...with only Self-Righteous LIP ACTION behind it.

The guard and reserve people in Iraq have lives just like we do--and yet many went to war for a year or more... AND THEN BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN. They are put on stop loss---which means they are not allowed to retire when their contract is up. Well, "Support the Troops", means "Support the Troops" if I am not badly mistaken. And now that they are so desperate for warm bodies to die or live and fight this war...

YOU NEED TO SIGN UP RIGHT NOW! PUT YOUR FLAG WAVING, BLUE-RIBBON ASS WHERE YOUR 'PATRIOTIC' MOUTH IS! ARE YOU ANY BETTER THAN THE MOMMIES AND DADDIES AND BROTHERS, SISTERS, NIECES, NEPHEWS, CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN who are actually serving in the military now?

THIS IS WHEN YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU THE MOST. THEY JUST UPPED THE ENLISTMENT AGE TO 40. SO C'MON-EVEN IF YOU ARE A DRUG ADDICT, A DRUNK, OVERWEIGHT OR PREGNANT...THE MILITARY STILL WANTS YOU AND MAY STILL TAKE YOU!! SO ALL YOU RIGHTEOUS CONSERVATIVES WHO SUPPORT THE TROOPS...GIT ON OVER TO YOUR RECRUITER NOW -- IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO SERVE YOUR COUNTRY!

OR YOU ARE A LYING CHICKENSHIT, PSEUDO-AMERICAN, BULLSHIT ARTIST, WHO DOESN'T REALLY CARE ONE ZIT ABOUT THE TROOPS AND ONLY ABOUT THE NATIONAL JINGOISTIC CRAP AND NEO-CON HYPER-BLATHER?.

WHY LOOK AT BUSH, CHENEY, WOLFOWITZ, PERLE, RUMSFELD, FEITH, ETC. NOT A DAMNED ONE SERVED IN COMBAT, AND MOST DIDN'T SERVE AT ALL!

YOU SHOW 'EM! AND IF YOU GET MAIMED OR DIE--WE WILL REMEMBER YOUR PATRIOTISM FONDLY!

For What?

There's an old adage that goes, "Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it". The following words were written during the Vietnam War by a WWII general - but eerily, they fit like a glove when applied to the situation in Iraq today:

"The enemy are pestering our troops like mosquitos until we scratch ourselves to death."

"We’re letting technology drive tactics. The helicopter is an example. We let the use of the helicopter dictate tactics instead of formulating tactics to make use of the helicopter."

"The same goes for body counts as a measure of whether or not you are winning the war. You do not count bodies and add them up and let the arithmetic determine strategy or tactics."

"The same goes for the base camp concept. Not only do you have to take territory, but you must own and defend it; Without domination of territory you have done nothing but waste lives in pursuit of a corrupt policy in the futile quest for a hollow victory."

"You can not expect to control territory if you expend men, munitions, equipment and resources by day only to abandon the territory to the enemy by night."

"When you try to substitute technology for people on the battlefield you only make war a logical and inevitable choice in the furtherance of policy."

Our 'leaders' would do well to recall the hard lessons learned thirty years ago in Vietnam. They are however, narrowly focused on an agenda which ignores virtually all the lessons from the past. Unfortunately and tragically, the American people, and especially our young men and women in the armed forces are paying the price. Over 1724 dead so far, and nearly 13,000 wounded. *(1661 since "Mission Accomplished"!)

Pardon me, but for what?

* http://icasualties.org/oif/

And the whole "Mission Accomplished" bull turned out to be just another publicity stunt - which the White House then lied about:

*http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/29/iraq/main580661.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/08/politics/main552894.shtml

"Right to Life" attitudes

This is one of the best and most succinct comments on antiabortionists I've ever seen:

A local Juneau, Alaska attorney wrote a letter to the editor of the Juneau Empire today to answer an earlier letter whose author stated “we don’t need Planned Parenthood” and that “Planned Parenthood targets teenagers” and that “all abortion kills babies.”

(First letter: http.://juneauempire.com/stories/061405/let_20050614005.shtml)

To quote his letter he says:

‘Planned Parenthood doesn't "target" teenagers; Planned Parenthood tries to help young women who would otherwise be subjected to the my-way-or-the-highway brainwashing by the religious right.

Not all abortion kills babies; it kills embryos. When Ms. (earlier writer) stops indirectly killing animals so she can eat meat (and abstains from killing all other forms of life made by her creator, meaning plants and bugs), when she adopts every orphaned cat, dog and baby she can, and when she starts voting against politicians who support human war in any form, then perhaps she'll be on the first step toward the kind of sainthood that gives her the right to preach to the rest of us.’

Attorney’s follow-up letter:
http.://juneauempire.com/stories/061705/let_20050617008.shtml

Semper Fi!

Hammerhead President

'It's an *absurd allegation. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world. We've investigated every single complaint against the detainees. It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of — and the allegations by — people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble — that means not tell the truth.✟ And so it was an *absurd report.'

- George W. Bush 5/31/05 answering charges by Amnesty International saying his administration is running the 'gulags of our time.'

* Most of the world, me included, thinks this 'President' is about the most absurd individual ever to hold high & responsible office anywhere. It's pretty absurd to apparently believe that simply because you say something - and you hold high office - that makes it the truth, and bad verbiage notwithstanding, argument over. This hammerhead is totally disconnected from reality!

Dubya may stand out in Texas and among rednecks, but he definitely is an embarrassment to our country . . .

✟ ("disassemble" in fact by most definitions, actually means 'to take apart')

Paying Attention

June 15, 2005

Is anyone paying attention? Will we allow the coup to continue? I've been watching in disbelief now for over five years as American values continue to be eroded away day by day with hardly a peep out of people. Things I never believed I would ever see, like:

Americans imprisoning people Indefinitely without trial;

Americans malteating and torturing prisoners;

Americans accepting lying as a way of life - with the liars not even bothering to defend the lies;

Wholesale assault by an administration on personal freedoms we've all long taken for granted with hardly any outcry;

Wholesale assault by an administration on citizen's in favor of big money interests;

And on and on and on.

What kind of legacy will Americans leave to our children and grandchildren?

Whoo Boy. . . .