Moral & ethical duty of America's Leaders

It is far past time for America’s political leaders to live up to the public trust and earn their pay. It is far past time for our collective leadership to face reality and begin correcting the horrible mess the Bush Administration has gotten us all into.

The unilateral U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq violated the United Nations Charter, international law, and set a dangerous precedent for justifying “preemptive” attacks by other nations, perhaps even against ourselves. For the first time in my life (over six decades) I am mortally ashamed of the acts of my own government!


It is impossible for a rational person to imagine a more inept or dysfunctional administration than the one currently being inflicted upon the American people by this administration:

Prior to the war, this so-called "conservative" administration’s top budget [Mitch Daniels] official estimated . . . .that the cost of a war with Iraq could be in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion… well, so much for being 'fiscally responsible' not to mention 'conservative' as will be evident below:

Prior to the Iraq invasion, Donald Rumsfeld predicted that maybe up to $50 billion would be required for the war in Iraq. . . .

Amazingly, prior to the war, Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, even seriously predicted that the war might actually ‘pay for itself’ thru the sale of oil . . .

The US now admits to spending almost $300 billion so far - but does not count costs which will accrue after the war. Predictions now range from a total war cost ranging from $500 billion to several trillion dollars. Given the track record so far, we’ll be lucky to get out for the higher estimates. This means:

So far the war has cost every man, woman & child in the US around $1,000.

The total cost could be as much or even much more than $3,335 for every many, woman & Child in the country. The problem is that it is open ended and we simply do not know!

So, who are the folks running this war? Here are some of the thing some of these people have famously said:

“Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.”
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq)

"I don't do numbers."
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq and spending billions of taxpayer dollars in the process - $6 billion per month in fact)

I think it (the war) will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months“
(Prediction made by the Vice President of the US, Richard Cheney)

''I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
(Richard Cheney , Vice President of the US in May, 2005)

“I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.”
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq)

“It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.”
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq)

"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - which he may still be hoping to find, perhaps in outer space somewhere)

"I don't do quagmires."
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq, and astoundingly flippant with American lives)

"It's an enormous country - you know, it's bigger than Texas! Or as big, I guess - I haven't looked lately."
- (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq, on Iraq, the country)

“It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”
- - (Donald Rumsfeld, the man actually in charge of running the war in Iraq , early on after the invasion, predicting the duration of the War)

Our political leaders have the moral, & ethical responsibility - all of them, from the top down - do everything in their power to put the war in Iraq behind us as quickly and in as fair a manner as possible, and begin rebuilding the world’s trust in our country before it is too late to recover.

Ignoring reality is not an option. It is in fact, an egregious dereliction of duty and a great danger to our nation and the world.

A Neo-Con's Prayer

“O My God, Ye, verily I saith unto thee,

That I hath followeth false leaders,

That leadeth me unto wickedness, and the uttering of untruths,

Even tho’ I claimeth to be righteous and even virtuous,

And, even tho’ I claimeth a religion that preacheth against such wickedness,

And, even tho’ by that religion I now hath sold mine own miserable soul,

Knowingly, and even willingly, and yea, even joyfully,

Unto false doctrines, preacheth by many fools,

And, cynics, and unbelievers, tho’ verily they would have everyone believeth,

That they walketh the paths of righteousness and truth and the ‘true’ religions,

Tho’ manifestly they doeth not, yet maketh they war, and bringeth down death unto innocents,

With their hypocrisy and false witness, and yet they all,

Seek to justify their wickedness in the cloak of righteousness, and yea, even patriotism,

Tho’ it resembleth it not in the least,

And I verily even now cast down mine own nation and mine own people in my partisan righteousness,

And mine own brethren who hath sacrificed so much in the name and cause of freedom,

Tho’ I myself hath not, and yea sought to have others do so in my stead for I feared for my cowardly body.

And yet verily I eagerly followeth those same wicked ones who seeketh to twist and destroyeth the truth, and to cast lies upon those who have made the actual sacrifices upon the twin altars of blood and deed,

And, yet I do act and bear witness unto their fundamentalist doctrines for I myself have done the same,

And, followeth unto dogma that is selfish unto me, and mine own doctrinal fools in kind,

And have self-righteously borne false witness and thro’ mine own baseness and falseness,

And, hidden mine own truly evil soul which is pitiful to behold indeed.

And, I now feareth for mine own weak and sorry soul for eternity for mine own shameful wickedness and mercenary purveyance of filth, distortions and evil aspirations.

God, I am a coward of the first order indeed and feareth for my poor wretched and wicked soul in eternal Hell,

For I have abandoned any true religion and mine own country and shall surely fry in purgatory,

For mine own secular and doctrinal falseness.

O Lord, I beseech Thee now to take pity on my soul and heareth my plea.”

A General Indictment

Some military quotes of note about Rummy the Absolute Dummy's running of the Iraq War:

"They only need the military advice when it satisfies their agenda. I think that's a mistake, and that's why I think he should resign."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs.

“The Pentagon needs a fresh start, We need a leader who understands teamwork, a leader who knows how to build teams, a leader that does it without intimidation. We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste who led the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq until he retired last year.

"We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn't build a strong team." - - - Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste.

“Rumsfeld made a series of disastrous mistakes. We grow up in a culture where accountability, learning to accept responsibility, admitting mistakes and learning from them was critical to us. When we don't see that happening it worries us. Poor military judgment has been used throughout this mission."
- Retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni, former commander of US forces in the Middle East

“Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld is guilty of ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.... I have seen a climate of groupthink become dominant and a growing reluctance by experienced military men and civilians to challenge the notions of the senior leadership."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton who was in charge of training Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004.

"He has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. ... Mr. Rumsfeld must step down."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton

“US military policy in Iraq has been marked by successive policy failures." Among these: "distortion of intelligence ... micromanagement that kept our forces from having enough resources ... failure to retain and reconstitute the Iraqi military."
- Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold, former operations director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores, but I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack, Jr.

"I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him. ... I think we need senior military leaders who understand the principles of war and apply them ruthlessly, and when the time comes, they need to call it like it is."
- Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, Jr.

"My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions - or bury the results."
- Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold.

"Serious mistakes [were made] in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad. We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. As a result an insurgency got started, and it got out of control."
-Colin Powell, former secretary of state and Joint Chiefs chairman,

In this, Powell echoed former Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who told Congress just weeks before the 2003 invasion that several hundred thousand US troops would be necessary to secure Iraq after the invasion. For this he was publicly contradicted by then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Rumsfeld named General Shinseki's replacement a year before he was to retire and broke custom by not attending his retirement ceremony.

"What's remarkable to me is how long it took military resentment of Rumsfeld to surface in public. Rumsfeld apparently has convinced the president that military criticism of his performance is traceable mainly to resistance to change. That interpretation of the criticism isn't totally wrong. But much of the officer corps thinks he simply doesn't understand technology or operations in sufficient depth to grasp the consequences of his policies, and yet he routinely uses his position to quash dissent."
-Military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

Gen. Merrill McPeak, retired Air Force chief of staff, says if anything the number of US troops there needs to be doubled - to around the figure Shinseki predicted would be needed three years ago - if Iraq is to become truly secure and democratic

General McPeak lost friends when he started speaking out against the war several years ago. Now, he says, "everybody is sending me e-mails and cards and letters saying 'I wish I had seen it the way you saw it from the beginning,' and I've gotten some of those friends back."

Amen, brothers.

Ignorance

Our President, placing party politics above the interests of our country has proven himself and his administration to be totally unworthy. Time after time he has stretched the truth, lied, dissimulated, and fabricated ‘evidence’ to support his position. It’s just plain disgusting.

Of course it is not just Bush, and he is mostly just a helpless & gullible pawn being used in a larger Neo-Con agenda. But the fact remains that this is the most mistrusted and dishonest administration ever in American history. And for good reason.

We find for example that Bush, Cheney et al have themselves ‘leaked’ classified information to the press to discredit critics. This leaking has occurred even after all their crying and hand-wringing about leakers, and Bush’s determination to punish same. Disgusting hyocrisy.

Throughout this present administration we have witnessed the Neo-Con’s all out attacks on any critic or perceived enemy of the administration. No lie or tactic seems beneath them.

The White House now claims any information released was done "in the public interest", and that the president has the power to declassify information. Hah! The American people are not so stupid as to buy that and line we all know - even the Neo-Cons - that is just so much bull pucky. The difference being the Neo-Cons think that sort of thing is perfectly OK - just so long as it’s their liar doing it.

We have learned that Bush et al simply ignored any evidence that was at odds with their claims leading up to the Iraq war, or with their fervent insistence on Iraq’s possession of WMD’s. In my book anyone who ignores facts is, well, JUST PLAIN “IGNORANT”! That definition might well describe the Neo-Con position.

When are we going to get enough of the lying , distortions and hypocrisy? Our country is being dragged thru the mire by these partisan fools, blinded to the realities by their dogma. I suppose you can expect no less from folks following a game plan set by Karl Rove.

Americans must take back our country from these miscreants!

Another Deja Vu

I am very disturbed at the direction our country's President is taking our nation:

"We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran"

"If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self-defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack"

This is how President Bush defends his ‘Preemptive Strategy” in the latest White House’s National Security Report to Congress. It’s a spookily eerie case of ‘deja vu all over again’.

Where has Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” taken our country so far? Let’s count just a few of the places:

1. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” was used as an excuse to abandon the hunt for the real terrorist enemy to attack the wrong one in 2003;

2. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” was used as an excuse to invade a non-threatening sovereign nation not involved in the 9/11 attacks or terrorist activities;

3. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” relied upon false and manufactured “intelligence” to justify that invasion;

4. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” resulted in the destruction and desolation of large areas of that nation, and in the deaths of over 2300 Americans and thousands of other human beings. There is no exit strategy and no end in sight;

5 Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” resulted in the most effective recruitment tool for terrorist fanatics against the western world since the Crusades;

6. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” resulted in the largest mobilization of Islamic terrorists since the Crusades, with attacks around the world;

7. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” has left our country far more at risk than before;

8. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” is costing our nation, or children and our grandchildren hundreds of billions of dollars, dollars which could be put to far better uses;

9. Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” has taken the international reputation of our country to it’s lowest point in history;

10. Last but not least, Bush’s “Preemptive Strategy” has polarized our country as not seen since the Civil War.

Bush’s defense of his “Preemptive Strategy” reminds me of the story about the guy selling watermelons for $1 apiece from the back of a pickup truck. When his partner complained about losing money his solution was ‘let’s get a bigger truck!’. Not only are this seriously failed president’s actions illogical and illegal, it becomes clearer each day they are arrogantly stupid! Trouble is, all the rest of us are paying heavily for his obtuse ways.

A Shameful Fog of Obtuse Hypocrisy & Lies

"There's nothing new or insightful on these tapes,"
- Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke concerning a video obtained by the Associated Press yesterday.

The video recorded an Aug. 28, 2005 meeting on Hurricane Katrina then threatening New Orleans. The meeting was held at President Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch and attended by the President. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the next day, August 29, 2005. There were over 1300 deaths as a result of the storm, and the common consensus is that New Orleans may never fully recover. There are still many thousands left homeless and in limbo over six months later with a new hurricane season fast approaching.

National Hurricane Center official Max Mayfield spoke during that meeting:

“The storm is gonna pile some of that water in Lake Pontchartrain on the south side of the lake. I don’t think anyone can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, uh, but there’s obviously a very very grave concern.”

That’s as in “A VERY, VERY GRAVE CONCERN”. And, in fact that grave concern came to pass.

Now discredited FEMA Head Michael Brown also spoke during the same meeting:

“My gut tells me . . that this one is a bad one and a big one. . . . we're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event,"

That’s as in “A BAD ONE AND A BIG ONE”, and “WE’RE GOING TO NEED EVERYTHING WE CAN POSSIBLY MUSTER”. And, in fact that also came to pass.

President Bush asked no questions at all during the meeting, but did make this statement:

“I want to assure the folks at the state level, that, uh, we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal, after the storm to help deal with, tha, uh, with the loss of property . . . and we pray there’s no loss of life of course.”

That’s as in “WE ARE FULLY PREPARED”. Unfortunately this was simply lip service and a great big, fat, wishful lie.

And, when later questioned about the abysmal federal response after the storm Mr. Bush had this to say:

“There is frustration. but, uh, I want people to know there’s a lot of help coming. I don’t think anybody anticipated a breech of the levees.”

Shamefully, just another great big, fat "black is white" lie.

Responding to heavy criticism, the White House has recently said the ‘fog of war made decision making difficult” during and after the hurricane. Former FEMA director Michael Brown told AP this week that he did not "buy the 'fog of war' defense".

"It was a fog of bureaucracy," he said.

Personally, I consider this simply another demonstration of the never-ending obtuse arrogance of this administration and their shamefully perpetual insistence that administration fantasy is reality.

Watch the video for yourself here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm

To War or Not to War

Societies often first exalt their leaders and wise people. Contrarily, they later seem to completely forget their words:

“Pyrrhus, when his friends congratulated to him his victory over the Romans under Fabricius, but with great slaughter of his own side, said to them, "Yes; but if we have such another victory, we are undone."
- Francis Bacon

“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
- Benjamin Franklin

"A free government with an uncontrolled power of military conscription is the most ridiculous and abominable contradiction and nonsense that ever entered into the heads of men."
—Daniel Webster, Speech in the House of Representatives, January 14, 1814

“Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. If today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if you don't.'"
- - US President Abraham Lincoln

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country."
- US President Theodore Roosevelt

"Once lead this people into war and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight you must be brutal and ruthless and the spirit of ruthlessness will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street." —US President Woodrow Wilson , 1917

“You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.”
- Jeanette Rankin, First woman elected to Congress (R-MT, 1918)

"I spent thirty-three years and four months in active service in the country's most agile military force, the Marines. I served in all ranks from second lieutenant to major general. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”
—Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler (former Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps) Common Sense, November 1935

"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificually induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear."
—US General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.”
- US President Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars.”
- US General William Westmoreland

“History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”
- US President Ronald Reagan

"FREEDOM FIGHTER, n. A State Department term referring to a mercenary attempting to install an authoritarian regime friendly to U.S. business interests”
- US President Ronald Reagan. (For those with short memories or too young to remember, this is what Reagan’s administration called Osama Bin Ladin and the Afghan Taliban in the 1980’s while providing them aid to the tune of $3 billion.)

“Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent”
- Issac Asimov (Perhaps forecasting GWB?)

“One can not doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed.”
- William F. Buckley in National Review, 2/24/06