Some Lie. Others Define a Solution.

[tw]

Very long because it cites reports from Charlie Rose, Nightline, Washington Post and too many other responsible news sources. News reported without administration spin.

A study just delivered to the White House and reported in the Washington Post on 2 Oct page A16 notes

... the Bush administration is doing a poor job of influencing Muslim and Arab public opinion, an administration advisory group said yesterday in calling for fundamental changes in the U.S. public diplomacy program.

Others say "a sharper message will mean little unless administration policy changes on essential issues, notably the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A great majority of Muslims and Arabs say the Bush administration favors Israel to a fault and are troubled by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq."
How bad has America popularity fallen due to George Jr?

Fifteen percent of people in Indonesia, the country with the largest number of Muslims, have a favorable view of the United States, compared with 61 percent early last year, the report said. Elsewhere, only 7 percent of Saudis and 3 percent of Spaniards hold a "very favorable" view of the United States.

And Spain is suppose to be a strongest supporter of George Jr's "War on Terrorism". Exactly what happens when lying by a US administration becomes normal (as Nixon demontrated 30 years ago). Suddenly the extremists rally around their (lying) leader as world opinion plummets.

Get outside of administration spin to discover poor and dropping American credibility everywhere internationally.

Now that the 'official' war is considered over, American retired military commanders are returning to criticism of this administration's self serving political agenda that is getting us deeper into the hole. Retired military personel note no exit strategy, no strategic objective, no comprehensive plan to solve the problem, and a pig-headed attitude that even keeps American allies from providing assistance.

Charlie Rose rearraigned his schedule this week because Jessica Mathews of the Carnigie Endowment for International Peace just returned from Iraq with stunningly bad news about what we are doing in Iraq. An entire show dedicated to what she and Jeffry Sacks (of Columbia U) had to say.

Look. No one can win a war against politically inspired violence. It is not happening now that Sharon restarted the intafada. It did not happen in Somolia. It is not happening in Chechnya. It could not happen in VietNam. It did not happen in Algeria. Until reasons for political violence are removed, then an organized military response is doomed to failure. History says that repeatedly and too often. And yet George Jr would fight Iraqi politically inspired violence in some mythical belief that "god is on our side" or that "we are righteous".

Did we not learn from VietNam? Did we not learn from WWII? How to get Germany restarted? Put the Nazis into positions where they can get the country working again. Then Germany recovered. But in Iraq, we removed everyone who had any Baath party relations. That means we fired all teachers. We destroyed all forces for law and order - army and police alike. We fired anyone who could get the electricity turned on. Then when widespread violence and looting occurred, our glorious leaders denied it was happening. They still deny that Baghdad museums were looted even though 10,000 items remain missing include 29 irreplaceable artifacts. Remove administration spin. Irrecoverable damage was done to Iraqi museums because the military did not have enough people or people properly trained to stop the violence - due to direct orders from Rumsfeld who refused to listen to knowledgeable military personel.

No wonder all this violence did not happen. If the administration admitted it was happening, then they would have to admit they did not listen to those who know how to get the work done. Rumsfeld admit he was wrong?

BTW, Billy Kristol of the New Republic (a major right wing Republican insider) openly says he believes Rumsfeld handled this post war occupation quite badly. Maybe a message from the conservative camp that Rumsfeld's days are numbers. Kristol was only restating the obvious.

American leadership is in outright denial just as we were in the days of Henry Cabot Lodge and Gen William Westmoreland - when another war was fought due to administration lies and without any exit strategy. When we fought a war against politically inspired violence.

Some Americans have news sources so myopic as to only hear administration rhetoric. Fact remains that Iraq will not support law and order IF the country is not run by its own governmenet; by Iraqis. Jessica Mathews kept making the same point. For some reason, top administration officials (all with extensive oil industry background) will not permit a provisional Iraqi government. Apparently this short sighted decision was made before the Iraqi invasion started. And they still don't get it. She says what so many are saying. Outside of Baghdad, Iraq is in chaos where a local government does not exist. Others note the only place with any law and order is where the Kurds kept Saddam out and maintained their own government - a democratically elected one.

Mathews makes another important point. We have a centralized bureacracy in Baghdad (Bremmer) who has no idea what is happening in the provinces, has no staff in those regional capitals, and it totally dependent on military people, untrained in that task, to perform civilian functions. Too many others who have been to Iraq - in the field - are saying the same thing. A centralize bureaucracy that is out of touch with the countryside AND may have no real plan to build an Iraqi government. Instead, all is being done without any Iraqi representations or input. Only a puppet government exists. No wonder even the electricity could not be restored. Those who made the electricty work were Baath party members - and therefore could not be trusted? Too much politics from Washington rather than pragmatic solutions.

The naiviety goes farther. Somehow we have an administration that is short of man and materials in the field (as many as half the Bradleys are down due to shortage of spare parts), desparately needs international troops and support, demands international money, but refuses to concede control or planning to anyone in exchange for that assistance. This George Jr administration must be fools to think anyone will offer troops or support without massive US concessions. But that is exactly what George Jr is demanding. Just another point made by both Jessica Mathews and Jeffry Sacks. And yet the US needs that option to get out. We don't have the troops necessary to cover troop rotations beyond March. But even Pres Anzar of Spain refuses to provide assistance and blunty says why. George Jr is not listening. He has this political agenda; reality be damned.

In addition to the $87 billion is another request for $55 billion. All for a nation that was not going to cost America anything because oil was going to pay for it all. Just another lie? Sounds like that Senator was correct when he put the real figure at about $419 billion. That would be more money for Iraq than the entire annual Defense Dept budget! Let's not loose perspective of how much Iraq is taking out of America - its jobs, infrastructure, education, etc. We are currently spending $350,000 per soldier per year to "liberate" a nation that did not want to be liberated, is not even permitted to start building a government, that was suppose to be able to pay for its own rebuilding, that needs more American money than all the countries of Africa combined, AND that is not able to export oil because of repeated oil pipeline attacks. A nation so entrenched with politically inspired violence and embedded with munitions that the quagmire will continue for years.

[continued in next post]

[tw]

[continued from 1st post]

Where is this widespread American support that the administration claims will be forthcoming? It never appeared internationally or among any Iraqi political group. Correct. Not one Iraqi political group has stood up to support the American conquering army. Even Alexander the Great got better support from the peoples he conquered. But then Alexander did not lie repeatedly.

Whether from Jessica Mathews or from so many independent sources, the same point keeps coming back. The administration line of 'things getting better' only exists in a centralized bureacracy isolated in Baghdad. Those who visit the field say things are bad. So bad that Americans cannot even find Saddam. Those who talk to Iraqi 'powerless' leadership return with opinions of frustrated Iraqis. These are suppose to be OUR chosen Iraqis. Why then are they not even trusted to form a government?

It took the US seven years to finally develop a Constitution; a country of monolithic people united by a common struggle. Suddenly a country without any history of self rule (victims of colonialism followed by terranical dictatorship), with numerous religious and political rivalries, with widespread depotism and hate, and without any knowledge of democracy is, instead, going to adopt a Constitution in only 6 months. Who writes this fiction? International diplomats and non-US news services are calling it absurd. But then look who thinks this is all going to happen. George Jr who could not even name the president of Canada when running for President. A man without any international or historical knowledge says Iraq will have a government in 6 months. We cannot even trust the Iraqis to form a provisional governement now! Where does he invent these numbers?

Too many independent political professionals, too many retired military men, too many international leaders are saying this will not happen.

We are losing about 1 soldier every day since George Jr declared the war over. We are occupying a nation that we don't even trust to rule itself. And we do not even have Americans in the field. The MBA inspired bureaucracy is holed up in safe compounds in Baghdad because its just not even safe to go out and rule. We are so ill informed as to even keep UN support out when our own military does not have the manpower to maintain the occupation.

And if that was not bad enough, Ambassador Wilson goes on Nightline last night (30 Sept) to name names.

On July 6, Wilson wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs. He cited specifically a line from President Bush's State of the Union speech about Iraq seeking uranium from Africa — information the White House later admitted was inaccurate.

Even the White House now admits the President lied. But they would still seek revenge on Wilson! Ambassador Wilson paraphrases what reporters are telling him even one week after the White House exposed a covert CIA agent - his wife. Wilson says on Nightline what reporters are telling him.

'I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He tells me your wife is fair game.'

Fair Game! A covert CIA agent is "fair game" according to a senior White House official. The administration says this did not happen. More lies? But why would they stop lying?

Nightline notes why Iraq remains a problem:

With increased bombing of soft targets and daily killings of U.S. troops, the Bush administration characterizes the Iraqi armed resistance as a terrorist phenomenon. Although this violence has emerged as a major obstacle to reconstruction in Iraq, the reality is too complex to simply broad-brush it as "terrorism." ... Armed resistance in Iraq represents a broad spectrum of political and ideological forces that need to be understood individually before they swell, coalesce, and become a major threat.

But the administration would 'sound byte' the whole thing down to a 'war on terrorism'. Maybe not a lie. Just outright misrepresentation.

If your news sources don't make it obvious, then your news source is probably limited to George Jr administration spin. Things are that bad in Iraq. We went blindly into the unjustified conquest of another sovereign nation - and even without an exit strategy. Did we not learn from VietNam, Lebanon, or Somolia. Remember what the military predicted and what the administration forcefully denied? At least two years and 200,000 troops. This week, the administrtion admitted we will be in Iraq through 2004 - at least two years. Who was lying? It was not the military. Same administration would even commit a felony - expose a CIA agent - because the facts don't agree with administration spin and a Presidential speech.

BTW, as if our debts are not big enough. Somehow this administration thinks nothing of 'throwing money like it was a grenade' into Iraq. Like good MBAs, they would solve problems by throwing money at it. We now have a military that spends more money than all other militaries in the world combined. But this George Jr thinks we don't spend enough money on defense. Defense from what? Well he has only encouraging the entire Arab world to execute terrorist attacks on the US. Therefore George Jr is building a chain of military bases completely across the north side of Muslim Asia. There is now talk of permanent American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Does history not cite military excursions as the quickest way to destroy a world power? But that is history. What does George Jr know about history? We now spend more money on military than all other world militaries combined!

How did this administration advocate a solution to a spy plane incident? Administraton officials actually advocated war with China. No wonder we are in this hole with an administration that lies - repeatedly. They don't even care if the war is justified. Who's next?

We have the government our Supreme Court elected. We have a government that even lied about aluminum tubes when they knew it was a lie. They lied about Niger yellowcake (nuclear fuel) in the President's State of the Union address knowing full well it was a lie. We have not seen so much lying from a President since Nixon said he was not a crook.

What have we not seen yet? Predicted: an Iraqi occupation would only inspire Arabs everywhere to attack Americans. EVen US commercial aircraft now need expensive defensive weapons - at the expense of what here in America? Look at how low Americans are now regarded because George Jr attacks Iraq for no reason. He even undermined and destroyed the Oslo Accords as the Norwegian Foreign Minister predicted. We still have terrorism against Americans everywhere to look forward to because of a right wing extremist American government. We were not so hated when Clinton was president. Life becomes dangerous when a president has insufficient intelligence and no honesty.

Nightline says:

Three steps are needed to legitimize political reconstruction and retrieve the Iraqi project. First, Iraq must be fully internationalized and the world community must be brought in as a real partner ... Second, the challenge facing the United States is how to reduce U.S. military presence in Iraqi towns and cities while providing security for citizens. ... Finally, U.S. authorities must expedite the process of transferring power to Iraqis.

Even Nightline understands what is required. The George Jr admininstration is not doing any of this. Instead their solution is to seek revenge on Ambassador Wilson, who exposed another administration lie. Instead they would attack his wife; commit a felony - then deny what Karl Rove was saying.

He called her "Fair Game" - which is the title of that Nightline broadcast where Amb. Wilson names names. Too many news sources all imply the same inevitable conclusion. This George Jr administration lies. Lies justified by a right wing extremist political agenda.

[Torrere]

I will patiently await a summary.

[Chewbaccus]

/me didn't wait for summary, read both posts, applauds.

[warch]

I'll be interested to see if any shit sticks to Rove/Cheney this time. There's been much messing with the CIA and they seem right pissed.

[daniwong]

That was a very informative post - and a good easy read. (Which makes me think why a lot of American's have no idea what is going on - too many big words.)

Thanks for the post!

[tw]

Last week's The Economist put Tony and George Jr on the cover with a title "Wielders of mass deception?" There is no doubt we went into Iraq on lies. How extensive those lies and why is still unfolding. For example, because the admininstration could not get intelligence (the spin) they wanted from CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, then Rumsfeld set up another intelligence gathering office in the Pentagon to "uncover" facts that were being filtered out. Facts mostly from anti-Saddam Iraqis. Facts that were rejected as politically inspired lies by responsible intelligence agencies.

Saddam was evil. Therefore facts were invented to prove it; to justify war. Just what this administration did. And so The Economist demonstrates more examples of why this happened:

If there weren't any or many [sources], did analysts and their masters extrapolate from what they knew, or thought they knew, and present the outcome as fact? Did the two governments "cherrypick" the most gloomy assessements and prognoses? The underestimation of Iraq's nuclear progress before 1991 would have encouraged such an approach, and the aluminum-tube affair suggests that it was adpoted. As late as February of 2001, Mr Powell believes that Mr Hussein "had not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction." Something happened to change his mind.

And how much weight was given to the testimony of defectors, often eager to please, and (still less reliably) to exiles who are often out of touch with their native lands, and busily grinding private axes. Their influence seems to explain, in part, why some Americans expected ordinary Iraqis to be throwing flowers at their occupiers. A leak from Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency reportedly suggests that information from defectors furnished by the Iraqi National Congress turned out to have been distinctly suspect. Was there a kind of un-virtuous competition among the various American agencies, with some trying to outdo other by furnishing the administriation with evidence that most suited it prejudices?

Mr Bush and Mr Blair ... probably expected the sceptics to be quietened and chastened by the use of WMD during the war. But such weapons were never unleashed. Now they face a variety of probes into their case for toppling Mr Hussein. One British committee has already complained that too much "intelligence" has been withheld for it to reach properly informed conclusions. If that continues, it will be impossible to tell whether Mr Bush and Mr Blair or their publics were the more deceived.

The aluminum-tube affair (which was cited in The Cellar as myth then, and is widely pointed to as classic deception) suggests George Jr "cherrypick" the most gloomy assessements and prognoses, extrapolated from what they knew or thought they knew, and presented the outcome as fact. IOW he lied.

Bottom line remains. We are in Iraq because of deception. To be resolved: who did the deceiving. Evidence suggests it was at the highest levels of government. And so The Economist cover page with the title "Wielders of mass deception?"

[tw]

The mess does not exist only in Iraq. Quietly, this administration is also making a mess in Afghanistan. From last (4 Oct 2003) week's The Economist

The tinsel-clad petrol station at the edge of Maydan Shahr, a desert town west of Kabul, feels like a portal to another and more dangerous country. Aid wokers stop here to check tyres and oil on their jeeps. They do not want to break down. Ahead is southern Afghanistan - a bloody mess that is getting bloodier. Armed attacks on aid agencies in the south, once sporadic, are now daily. Such attacks used to extend only to a pistol whipping. The new rules for those stopped by insurgents are more brutal. If you are a foreigner you will be executed. If you are an Afghan working for a foreigner, you will be hectored, perhaps mutilated, and then executed. Afghan aid workers are the prime targets. Seven were killed last month....

The United Nations thinks 16 of Afghanistan's 32 provinces - almost all in the south - too dangerous for its international staff to venture through. Red Cross officials privately say their marked vehicles are proving a liability. Red Crescent workers are no better off: several were recently murdered. ...

It could get worse. If neo-Taliban are happy to murder those bringing food and water, what might they do to those bringing democracy and rights for women? Officials charged with going out and registering Pushtun voters for the elections will be sitting ducks.

Adminstration officials quietly talk about the next target - Syria. When Israel attacked Syria, George Jr called for restraint - wink, wink. This blood thirsty administration is so gun-ho as to forget to first solve the only military invasion that was justfied. Since this adminstration has no idea of how the world works - due to extremist rhetoric as a replacement for logical thought - even Afghanistan is falling apart.

Wide spread among the accusations - still many town have not had running water restored. What has America been doing all this time? Doing same as in Iraq?

In the movie Ugly American, a new highway is dedicated. Insurgents attack opening ceremonies. One reason for this adminstration's "shakeup" of management is that the one highway under construction in Afghanistan takes so long to complete. Ineffective American action makes Afghanistan a breeding ground for terrorists who would attack Americans. A situation created because George Jr had other nations to conquer.

We need resources just to solve the Afghan situation. But this administration is talking among themselves about invading Syria?

Who is next? This adminstration has no long term solution for Afghanistan, no exit strategy for Iraq, is making more enemies in both countries, has no plans for government in either nation, cannot even trust close friends to help solve the Iraq mess, but would solve all this by attacking Syria. This administration would even undermine potential allies in Iran - leaving Americans in both neighboring countries with but another enemy to confront. Who elected this president - a question not only about the president's intelligence. Some of us want this deception - don't want to hear how Afghanistan also is getting worse. Some just like to be deceived by this administration.

Take away a White House spin and we have facts. Both Iraq and Afghanistan are getting worse - with no expectation for improvement - NONE. And no long term plans for any solution or exit strategy. How curious. Just like VietNam when another American president decieved and repeatedly lied to the nation. Since many of us did not know VietNam, then the so many similar details are not so apparent. This is how VietNam got created. It started with a lying president.

[Hubris Boy]

Originally posted by tw
Very long because it cites reports from Charlie Rose, Nightline, Washington Post and too many other responsible news sources.

That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

<p align="right"><i>* My Eyes Glaze Over</i></p>

[warch]

No. Expound HB. Tell us what you think.