The Blue State

The Only Thing on the RUN Graham, is YOUR Mouth.

The main point of this post is all the lying coming from The Hill.

Graham: "The military part of the surge isworking beyond my expectations," Graham said. "We literally have theenemy on the run. The Sunni part of Iraq has really rejected al-Qaidaall over the country. We're getting more information about al-Qaidaoperations than we've ever received."

In response to Lindsey Graham's Troop Surge "WorkingBeyond my expectations" Before I get into the "meat and pataths",lets first take a quick peek at Graham's service to our country (I didn't say"Military Service" because as you will see it was ALWAYS aboutpolitics) 

Graham'sMilitary Service: Graham has served in the United States Air Force since1982, serving on active duty until 1988, and then in the South Carolina AirNational Guard and as an Air Force reservist. During the Gulf War, he wasrecalled to active duty, serving as a Judge Advocate at McIntire Air NationalGuard Station in Eastover, South Carolina, where he helped brief departingpilots on the laws of war. In 2004, Graham received a promotion to Colonel inthe U.S. Air Force Reserves at a White House ceremony officiated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.

While in the Air Force Standby Reserve, Graham served as an appellate judgeon the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. In September 2006 the United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that it was a violation of theIncompatibility Clause of the Constitution, which states that "no Personholding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either Houseduring his Continuance in Office", for Graham to have been a judge on thecriminal appeals court.

I won't take away his service to our country, however I will take away anyknowledge of knowing what it's like crapping yourself in a combat zone when abullet whizzes by your Kevlar (helmet) or a roadside bomb goes off 20 feet awayfrom you . His military service reads like a campaign trail, and it does looklike he "knew someone".

Before I move on to the videos, here are acouple of articles that to "Flag Waving Right" (such as MelanieMorgan) would consider unpatriotic.

BreakingRanks: MIKE HOFFMAN would not be the guy his buddies would expect to seeleading a protest movement. The son of a steelworker and a high school janitorfrom Allentown, Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1999 as anartilleryman to “blow things up.” His transformation into an activist camethe hard way—on the streets of Baghdad.

When Hoffman arrived in Kuwait in February 2003, his unit’s highest-rankingenlisted man laid out the mission in stark terms. “You’re not going to makeIraq safe for democracy,” the sergeant said. “You are going for one reasonalone: oil. But you’re still going to go, because you signed a contract. Andyou’re going to go to bring your friends home.” Hoffman, who had his owndoubts about the war, was relieved—he’d never expected to hear such a candidassessment from a superior. But it was only when he had been in Iraq for severalmonths that the full meaning of the sergeant’s words began to sink in. ReadOn...

Get ready to see some unpatriotic Americans that aren'tas smart as Graham

RetiredFirst Sergeant Perry Jefferies (Bio) Perry Jefferies is a representative forIraq and Afghanistan Veterans ofAmerica (IAVA). A non-partisan non-profit founded in 2004 with tens ofthousands of members in all 50 US states, IAVA is America’s first and largestIraq and Afghanistan Veterans group. Perry served as a First Sergeant with theArmy’s 4th Infantry Division in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Afterdeploying to Iraq and traveling with the cavalry through the Sunni Triangle, hisunit moved to the Iran – Iraq border and set up Camp Caldwell, future home ofthe New Iraqi Army. Often frustrated by the absence of priority on planning andbasic Soldier needs, he has spoken out about the lack of basic necessities suchas food, water, and repair parts. Previously a prison guard in Texas, he saysthat in many cases, Soldiers are treated worse than the convicts he used toguard.

After enlisting in the Texas National Guard, he joined the Army and served inKorea, Germany, and the United States before deploying to Iraq. He has served ininfantry, armor, and cavalry units and was an instructor at the Armor School atFort Knox. He retired in 2004 and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Legion ofMerit. He is a member of the Order of Saint George for service to Armor andCavalry.

Perry Jefferies hails from Waco, Texas but settled in Copperas Cove, nearFort Hood, where he lives with his wife. He works for a large contractor withthe blood program at Fort Hood and rides motorcycles in his spare time

Countdown: Impeach Bush, Save the Troops? Part 1

Countdown: Impeach Bush, Save the Troops? Part 2

The faces of knowledge, service to our country and patriotism

Draft Bill approved to hire Baathists (What's old is new again)

The removal of The BaathParty was a mistake, which became apparentand common knowledge months ago when Paul Bremer (former administrator ofthe Coalition Provisional Authority) (CPA) testified at a congressional hearingback in February.

Bremer said he was wrong to temporarily stop paying salaries andpensions to former Iraqi army officers. He added that Iraqis went too far withhis order to purge members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from the government.

"I acknowledge I made mistakes," Bremer said. "But on thewhole, I believe we made great progress under some of the most difficultconditions imaginable." Readon...

Removal of The Baathists is considered one of Bush'sbiggest mistakes.

“It is one of the darkest aspects of Iraq,” Iyad Allawi, the former PrimeMinister, said yesterday. “It has caused mass emigration from the country anddeprived the Establishment of trained manpower.”

After all these months, and all of the "experts" acknowledging thefact it was a mistake, a "draft bill" was finally approved thatwould give thousands of Baathists jobs. ("draft" operative word)

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's cabinet approved a U.S.-backeddraft oil law and the Parliament is expected to start discussing it next week,government officials said Monday.

The U.S. has pressed Mr. Maliki's government to pass the oil law and severalother pieces of benchmark legislation to spur reconciliation among the country'ssectarian and ethnic groups. The oil law is especially important to Sunni Arabs,who populate regions of Iraq that are largely without oil resources. Readon...

I personally do not believe The U.S. pressed anything, I think theyare just running out of ideas and this was the smart move by default. The administration didn't listen to anyone, commanders were fired because they didn't "agree" with the admin., conservative talking heads claimed them "incompetent". It's all a bunch of crap!

The ISG Report: Bush Was Against it before He Was for it.

When does it stop? When do people start being honest and stop protecting Bushand making crap up as they go? In the last few days there have been TONS ofDemocrat bashing by us libs because they foldedon the war funding bill. But what about when Bush double talks and is blatantly full of crap? FOX to the rescue, and Brit Hume gave us an outstanding displayon Fox News Sunday. Bush is now OK with the ISGreport, and when Juan Williams calls it like it is "historicalrevisionism", Hume wanted to know "who opposed it"...watchthe video then I'll tell you WHO opposed it.

 

I guess you want to know who opposed it? Bush did...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 — PresidentBush moved quickly on Thursday to distance himself from the centralrecommendations of the bipartisan IraqStudy Group: pulling back all combat brigades over the next 15 months and directtalks with Iran and Syria.

His administration did...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — Administrationofficials say their preliminary review of the bipartisan IraqStudy Group’s recommendations has concluded that many of its key proposals areimpractical or unrealistic, and a small group inside the NationalSecurity Council is now racing to come up with alternatives to the panel’sideas.

as did the Conservative media tools!...

Summary:Conservative media figures, including Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh, and GlennBeck, have attacked both the members of the Iraq Study Group and its report:Kristol has called the report "an evasion" and "not a seriousdocument"; Limbaugh asserted that ISG members are "doing everythingthey can to unite the American people" in "defeat" and"surrender"; while Beck has called the ISG report "OperationWhite Flag."

Bumper Sticker campaign: 'Brit is Fullof Sh*t' or 'Humes is Full of Fumes'.

Even though I believe thatWallace has become a "little" more fair lately (maybe Daddyschooled him), Hume and Kristol against Williams isn't even a good start to fairand balanced.

The Hidden Notes of the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority)

 

'My side, your side and the Hidden side' should be the motto ofthe Bush administration. Its gotten to the point that if the administrationtells us its sunny out, you have to look for a backdrop stretched out above (ormaybe you can actually watch it being stretched). Political scientist PeterMoore, while studying the wartime economy of Iraq, downloaded somedocuments from the CPA's web site,and stumbled upon some "hidden" information. Actually it was Peter's 8year old son that did the stumbling. While waiting to play a computer game on"dad's" laptop, his son was clicking around....

To replicate what my sondid, check "Mark up," under MicrosoftWord's "View" menu. Then, in the "Tools" menu, choose"Track changes," then "Highlight changes," and check the boxmarked "Highlight changes on screen." (This is the procedureapplicable for Word 2004 for Mac; others may vary.)

In doing so, it brought up all sortsof interesting info. (thought to have been deleted)

If you are in a Word document where "Track changes" has been turnedon, hitting "Mark up" will reveal all the deletions and insertionsever made in the document, complete with times, dates and (sometimes) theinitials of the editors. When my son did it, all the deleted passages in adocument with the innocuous name "Administrator's Weekly EconomicReport" suddenly appeared in blue and purple. It was the electronicequivalent of seeing every draft of an author's paper manuscript and all thepenciled changes made by the editors. I soon figured out that with a fewkeystrokes I could see the deleted passages in 20 of the 42 Word documents I'ddownloaded. For an academic like myself it was a small treasure trove, and afterI'd stopped hooting and hollering it took some time before I could convince mystartled son that he hadn't done anything wrong.

Posting sloppily edited documents on an official Web site pales in comparisonto some of the CPA's other mistakes. Its worst miscalculation was probablydissolving the Iraqi military on May 16, 2003, which jump-started the insurgencyby sending 400,000 trained soldiers into the streets without jobs.

In the documents, the author gives six theories for the decline in violence.

One explanation given for the downturn is called "Rounding Up the Bums."It suggests that the U.S. military might have successfully quelled theinsurgency. Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack, who commanded the 82nd Airborne inIraq until May 2004, was well known for using aggressive tactics.

A second explanation hinges explicitly on an old ethnic stereotype about howArabs only understand force. The "Crossed the Line" argumentinsists that violence is intrinsic to Arab culture: "[It] is a form ofpolitical discourse as well as being culturally acceptable for settling disputesand scores.

A third explanation, "Occupation Ending," says that theinsurgents are backing off because they think the U.S. is about to depart. Moore'snote: (Four years later, the Bush administration often says any deadline fortroop withdrawal would increase attacks.)

A fourth argument, "ProjectMoney Flowing," embraces an enduring pillar of American foreign policy inthe Middle East. Economic development and free trade, according to the moneytheory, would solve political disputes.

A fifth theory,"Engagement," says that Iraqis have begun to have hope thanks tosustained contact with Americans. "We'll take some credit here. We havebeen engaging widely with ... ex-Baathists, ex-Army. While many are tiring ofthe refrain that if you stay with us things will get better, for some theyactually have improved and that many have given hope to entire groups." Theauthor calls these people "the various groups of losers in the NewIraq."

A final argument for the downturn in attacks offers what brieflylooks like a flash of reality. The "Operational Pause" theory surmisesthat reduced attacks may be a statistical blip. They may increase again as"terrorists" regroup for future fights against the Americans and"other Iraqis." But then the author calls this "a boringtheory," and notes, "There are very few persons we have met whosubscribe to this."

Nowhere in any of these theories, including the "boring" one, doesthe author address the dissolution of the Iraqi Army as a major contributor tothe violence. Nowhere, in fact, does the author seem to know which"bums" or "losers" are attacking the Americans or why.Indeed, the most remarkable passage in the entire deletion is a simple statementby an Iraqi businessman, whom the writer quotes in passing while explaining whyAmerican-induced economic prosperity will end the fighting. "It is nothingpersonal," the Iraqi says. "I like you and believe you could bebringing us a better future, but I still sympathize with those who attack thecoalition because it is not right for Iraq to be occupied by foreign militaryforces." In the world of the CPA circa 2004, first one American glossesover this Iraqi's prophetic words, and then another tries -- unsuccessfully, asit turns out -- to delete them.

As the new way forward continues, so does the never ending billows of smokebeing blown up our asses.

If you would rather go directly to the stories....

The Salon: 'Thesecret Iraq documents my 8-year-old found' and 'Theviews of Iraq you weren't supposed to see'

Sunnis and Shiites Uniting and Angered Over "Baghdad Wall"

The wall Bush tried to build (under the media radar) in Baghdad,is having a back-fire effect. The wall angered and seems to be unitingthe Shiites and the Sunnis.

BAGHDAD: The unexpected outcry over the proposal to build a wall around aSunni Arab neighborhood has revealed the depths of Iraqis' frustration with thepetty humiliations brought on by the new security plan that is intended toprotect them.

American officials, and some of their Iraqi counterparts, were clearly takenaback by the ferocity of the opposition to the wall; on Monday, the UnitedStates showed signs of backing away from the plan. The strong reactionunderscores the sense of powerlessness Iraqis feel in the face of the U.S.military, whose presence is all the more pervasive as an increasing number oftroops move onto the city's streets.

Who in their right mindwould think a wall would be a good idea? The Americans can't decide whether afence along the Mexican border is a good idea, and that's where people arecoming in illegally. So Bush decides to build a wall in the capital of country wherethe citizens aren't too crazy about us being there in the first place? Backin April2004, the Iraqi people wanted us gone.

Gates Warns Iraqis U.S. Presence Not 'Open-Ended'

Does the democrat's (and America's) push for a time frame for our troops toget out of Iraq have anything to do with the Defense Secretary's recent trip toIraq? Either that or the administration all of a sudden decided that the Iraqi'sstepping up to the plate by  is important. This might be the"out" Bush was waiting for, or another way to show the Americanpeople he doesn't want us there either. (It seems we have told the Iraqis thisbefore)

  BAGHDAD,Iraq - April 20, 2007 — After a day of meetings withIraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders, Secretary of Defense Robert Gatesdeclared the American occupation of Iraq will not continue indefinitely.

Gates suggested the decision on whether to keep extra U.S. forces sent tosecure Baghdad in place will depend in part on whether the Iraqi governmentmakes progress on political reconciliation.

"Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it is not a commitment to haveour men and women patrolling Iraqi streets open-endedly," Gates said at ajoint press conference with Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al Qadr al Mufriji.

So, what about all the those successes that are going on in Iraq?

The defense secretary called the surge of an additional 28,000 U.S. forces inIraq now under way "a strategy of buying time" for the Iraqigovernment to make progress on political reconciliation. So far that isnot happening.

What makes this administration think that opposing religious groups and governments inIraq will "get along"? Not only has that been tried before, but letthe record show things are getting worse in Iraq.

Gates said a decision on whether or not to continue that surge past Augustwill be made "late summer" and a key factor in that decision willbe whether the Iraqis have made progress on reconciliation.

In a suggestion of how he will measure that progress, Gates told Iraqi PrimeMinister Nouri al-Maliki that the Iraqi parliament needs to move quickly onpassing long-delayed laws to heal the rifts between Iraq's Shia and SunniMuslims.

Gates also responded to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comment onThursday that "the war is lost."

"I have great respect for Sen. Reid. But on the question of whetherthe war is lost," he said, "I respectfully disagree."

Well of course you have to disagree, if you don't you'll find yourself in the"I don't agree with Bush" fired group.

Worth mentioning: Last night on The Military Channel's "The War Tapes", it was mentioned that KBR (Haliburton) charges $28 a plate during chow time. They put the plates out then count whats left and that's how they determine what to bill the US. The soldiers were saying they sometimes use a plate to cover their food (to keep it warm), KBR counts that as 2 plates. Even if you can argue the $28 for the food, how do they get away with charging by the "plate" inventory? Note: The plates are Styrofoam.

Less Green More Red in Baghdad

I wonder what BaghdadMarket McCain's take would be on the latest violence in the capital?He did say he would have gone into the market without an escort. 

Sixbombs went off in Baghdad's marketplace today killing 160 (so far) andwounding 137. This came at a time when the administration (and I am sure FOXnews) was about to do the happy dance for the hand-off of Maysan province fromthe British to the Iraqis.

The blasts overshadowed a key development for Iraq in which the country'sforces took over the security control of an oil-rich southern province from theBritish forces.

The British military, as part of its plan to withdraw its forces from Iraq,yesterday handed over the security control of the southern Maysan province at a colorfuloutdoor ceremony and military parade.

The spokespeople mustcringe when they speak, or at least when they are around friends and family andare asked "do you really believe that crap you said today?"

We've seen both inspiring progress and too much evidence we still face manygrave challenges," US military spokesman William Caldwell said last night."We've always said securing Baghdad would not be easy."

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that failure in Iraq would unleashsectarian strife and extremism and would be felt across the Middle East.

Speaking to a US Chamber of Commerce lunch in Cairo on the third day of hisMiddle East tour, Mr Gates urged Arab countries to use their influence tocounter the insurgency and encourage political reconciliation.

"Whatever disagreements we might have over how we got to this point inIraq, the consequences of a failed state in Iraq - of chaos there - willadversely impact the security and prosperity of every nation in the Middle Eastand Gulf region," he said. Mr Gates warned that while some who disagreedwith the war might be cheering for US failure in Iraq, "these sentimentsare dangerously shortsighted and self-destructive".

The initial effects of failure in the Iraq conflict, he said, would first befelt in Middle East capitals and communities "well before they are felt inWashington or New York".

Is Gates telling us that if welose, it would be because of the people cheering for a US loss? ( I'll assumethe democrats and liberals are in that mix) I think the administration knowsthey are in quite a jam and are positioning themselves to start tossing theblame around. Let them know while pointing a finger at someone, there are threepointing back

With the twisted thinking of this administration, I wouldn't be surprised if they say "we've got 'em right where we want 'em"

Is Prime Minister Maliki Iraq's Bush?

Moktada al-Sadr is withdrawing six loyal ministers from the Iraqi cabinet. NYTimes - Legislators working for Mr. Sadr said at a news conference that Mr. Sadr waswithdrawing his ministers because the government had refused to set a timetablefor pulling American troops out of Iraq. (Sounds familiar)

Sadr was a key factor for Maliki getting his job; controls 30 members of parliament;and controls the Mahdi Army. This has become a "contradiction fest"

The move by Mr. Sadr, who went underground at the start of the new Baghdadsecurity plan in February, appeared to be an attempt by the young cleric toshore up his reputation as an opposition figure in Iraq’s fragmented andacrimonious political landscape, yet still maintain power in Baghdad.

Last week, on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, Mr. Sadr calledfor a protest of tens of thousands in the holy city of Najaf to demand an end tothe American military presence in Iraq.

Mr. Maliki has asked Mr. Sadr to calm his powerful militia, the MahdiArmy, during the new security push, and the Iraqi Army and American forcesrecently fought cells of the militia in the southern city of Diwaniya.

American forces have also stepped up raids against Mahdi Army commandersand arrested some senior leaders, Iraqi officials say.

Last fall, Mr. Sadr ordered his legislators and ministers to suspend theirparticipation in the government to protest a meeting between Mr. Maliki andPresident George W. Bush in Jordan.

Mr. Maliki had rebuffed an order from Mr. Sadr not to meet with the Americanpresident. Then, the Sadr politicians returned to the government after twomonths.

American commanders say the number of death squad victims has dropped duringthe new security plan, in part because Mr. Sadr has ordered his militia tolie low.

When the government was formed last year, the ministries were divided upamong the country’s leading political parties. In the division, eachministry become the fiefdom of a particular sect or ethnic group. Replacingthe six Sadr ministries will no doubt involve long bouts of deal-making amongthe various parties.

Mr. Sadr also controls the ministries of agriculture, civil society andprovincial affairs.

This is just another one of the mountingissues that are making things worse in Iraq. We went to Afghanistan to take outOsama bin Laden, then before finishing business, we invaded Iraq "becausethey had WMD's" (which changed into 5 other reasons).

Some of the recentissues arising that only make things messier;  Protest in Pakistan;Turkey Wants to Invade The Kurds in N. Iraq;The Green War Zone;

This is starting to resemble the fairy tale by Mother Goose "Thisis the House That Jack Built",  and with a change of a few words,has become "This is The War that George Built"

Violence Erupts in Baghdad

It appeared that the insurgents were easing  back their attacks in Baghdad andmoving elsewhere, but Tuesday brought heavy violence in the capital city.

Reuters: U.S.forces in heavy clashes in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces backed by attack helicopters foughtgunmen in Baghdad on Tuesday, witnesses said, in the heaviest battle in thecapital since a major security crackdown was launched in February.

The two-month-old Baghdad offensive is regarded as a last-ditch attempt tohalt Iraq's slide into all-out sectarian war between majority Shi'ites andminority Sunni Arabs who were dominant under Saddam Hussein.

The latest deaths bring to about 45 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraqthis month, half of them in the Baghdad area. Between 80 and 85 soldiers werekilled in each of the first three months of the year, according to militaryfigures.

We should probably cross reference this story withSenator McCain

Rumsfeld actually gave good reason to leave Iraq

On his way to pay a surprise visit to Iraq, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said something very true about the insurgency when talking to the media:

"We're at a point now when the security situation depends as much onthe reconciliation process and on the strengthening of (government)ministries," Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him on anunannounced visit to Iraq. "Success in those areas will determine thesuccess from a security standpoint."

"It's as much a political task as anything," he said.

Precisely!  It certainly more of a political task than anything.  So the question becomes how do you win it politically?  Do you continue to maintain an American occupation in Iraq, which angers locals and helps recruit foreign terrorists to flood the borders and target our brave soldiers?  Or, on the other hand, do you take the American face off the occupation, redeploy to the periphery and start destroying Al Qaeda all over the world instead of letting them come to us like we are today?  Donald Rumsfeld just gave the best reason why we should begin a significant transition out of Iraq.  Thanks Rummy!