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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Taking The War Very Seriously

Taking The War Very Seriously

by Tim F|  September 28, 200712:01 pm| 31 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, War

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Everybody knows that Republicans care terribly deeply about American kids fighting and dying in Iraq and would never, ever consider putting their political interests ahead of the brave young men whom they sent to war. That is why the following stories seem so jarringly strange.

One, via Josh Marshall:

For three months now, Sanchez has been making off-the-record statements. He eventually came to the conclusion, he says, that Republican politics had trumped the national security interests of the United States in the execution of plans in Iraq. The Bush Administration had not planned to win in Iraq, but simply to keep a war running so Bush could run around and play “war president.” That is as devastating a criticism as any general has made of a president since the days of Douglas MacArthur.

Second, from Kevin Drum:

Democrats understand the negative consequences of moving too quickly to reverse Bush’s Iraq policy [he said]. The official noted that in the wake of Vietnam, anti-war Democrats “suffered for 20-some-odd years because they were identified as the party, when it came to national security, of being weak.”

….”One of two things will happen if a Democrat gets elected president,” he said. “They will either have to withdraw U.S. troops in order to remain true to the rhetoric — in which case, any consequences in the aftermath fall on their heads. Or they have to break their word, in which case they encourage fratricide on the left of their party. Now that’s a thorny issue to work through.”

Third, via Atrios:

A small group of Republicans facing election fights next year have rallied around war legislation they think could unite the GOP: a call for an end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but not until President Bush is out of office.

The legislation was deemed essentially a nonstarter by Democrats Friday and underscored the difficulty Congress has in striking a bipartisan compromise on war policy.

One of those mean awful liberal types might see a pattern emerging.

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Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    scarshapedstar

    September 28, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    There aren’t enough circles in hell for this man, his enablers, and everyone who voted for him.

    You do not give the power of life and death to a man with all the entitlement of a degenerate royal and none of the noblesse oblige. If you didn’t see this level of feckless, heartless lunacy coming, it’s because you didn’t want to.

  2. 2.

    Billy K

    September 28, 2007 at 12:14 pm

    “Might see?” Hell, I saw this coming years ago. Fuck up everything – EVERYTHING. Leave it for the next President, most likely a Democrat, to take the fall.

    GOP fucks things up, Dems fix them but take the blame, GOP gets elected. It’s brilliant, really. Except where does it leave our country?

  3. 3.

    Elvis Elvisberg

    September 28, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    John McCain would call these retired generals surrendering terror-loving traitors, rather than ever engaging their arguments, if he thought it’d give him a 2 percent bump in the polls. (And it might, given the deranged GOP base).

    And he’s the one we all thought had integrity.

    Liquidate the GOP. Purge the rottenness out of the system.

  4. 4.

    Ripley

    September 28, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    I want to reduce the size of the GOP – get it down to where we can drown it in a bathtub.

  5. 5.

    Chris Andersen

    September 28, 2007 at 12:47 pm

    The story that withdrawal from Vietnam hurt the Democrats has been told so many times that it has achieved the level of conventional wisdom. That doesn’t mean it was ever true.

  6. 6.

    jrg

    September 28, 2007 at 12:54 pm

    I think that Dems and anti-war groups should start running ads that say “if you support this war, sign up today, our soldiers are on their 4th and 5th tours, and need your help”.

    Of course, none in the 101st chairborne will enlist.

    Then, when the Pukes accuse the Dems of “losing the war”, all we need to say is that the war supporters refused to enlist, making continuation of the war impossible.

    Regardless of the method, someone needs to come up with a strategy for dealing with the Republican smear that is bound to ensue, and beat them to the punch, or we’ll have another backwoods redneck running this country in 2013.

  7. 7.

    rawshark

    September 28, 2007 at 12:56 pm

    The Bush Administration had not planned to win in Iraq, but simply to keep a war running so Bush could run around and play “war president.”

    The object of war is to be at war.

    A man whose family made money in oil and a man who used to head the country’s largest defense contractor started a war in an oil rich country and maybe it was for profit? The man who runs Blackwater has known Cheney since when?

  8. 8.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    September 28, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    For three months now, Sanchez has been making off-the-record statements. He eventually came to the conclusion, he says, that Republican politics had trumped the national security interests of the United States in the execution of plans in Iraq.

    So now the “Butcher Of Abu Ghraib” is a Brave and Sensible Whistleblower for speaking (off-the-record) against Bush?

    But seriously, you’ve gotta love blogs. It’s amazing what you can pretend a guy says, by just mangling one of his statements and then claiming to quote off-the-record statements (which are so super-secret, they can’t be checked!).

    I mean, it doesn’t say much for the credulous simps who put Their Faith into such spurious “reportage,” but at least it marks them for what they are, so the rest of us know.

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    September 28, 2007 at 1:09 pm

    Regardless of the method, someone needs to come up with a strategy for dealing with the Republican smear that is bound to ensue, and beat them to the punch, or we’ll have another backwoods redneck running this country in 2013.

    I think the Betrayus ads are, honestly, just the ticket. Republicans don’t know how to respond to them except by vomiting up even more vile and crazy smears of their own. If Democrats were better at blocking bullshit legislation, it would be funny to see Republicans throw a public hissy fit and try to shut down the federal government over an ad in an east coast newspaper.

  10. 10.

    Tsulagi

    September 28, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    The Bush Administration had not planned to win in Iraq, but simply to keep a war running so Bush could run around and play “war president.”

    I don’t know if I’d agree completely with that statement. It implies this admin has had the intelligence to accomplish ‘winning’ in Iraq, but choose not to. But he’s right the prez loves to play dress-up as the war president.

    Yeah, everyone above the sentience level of Terri Schiavo knows OIF is just kabuki now. For those below Terri’s sentience level, they’re still convinced Iraq can dance they way they want her to. Just get under her arms, stand her up, and tie strings to her legs. See, she/Iraq dances!

    Iraq is done. Has been for years. Only reasons we’re still there is for a spoiled brat to play war prez while waiting to shift fault to the next guy and for Pubs to still posture as the “serious adults” on national security defending America. Even though their actual actions on national security are far more like those from special ed pre-schoolers.

    What I’m not convinced of anymore is that a Dem president would end the farce. Given the Dem propensity to roll over evidenced of late, can almost see President Hillary or Obama keeping the farce going to avoid the retards being mad at them and calling them names. While just not getting it that even if they did Surge II, the retards would still be mad at them and call them names.

  11. 11.

    Jake

    September 28, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    Of course, none in the 101st chairborne will enlist

    .

    I saw recently a brilliant clip of a war supporter challenged to do exactly that. First he said he was too old (he wasn’t under the new regs), then he said “They” didn’t want him (bullshit of course), then he’d go if President Bush asked people to sign up. He was almost sobbing towards the end.

  12. 12.

    r4d20

    September 28, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    I saw recently a brilliant clip of a war supporter challenged to do exactly that. First he said he was too old (he wasn’t under the new regs), then he said “They” didn’t want him (bullshit of course), then he’d go if President Bush asked people to sign up. He was almost sobbing towards the end.

    My favorite clip was of a young College Republican who kept getting asked “If you support the troops, why don’t you sign up or apply to OCS?”. At first he kind of laughed it off but eventually he got flustered and blurted out “Look, I support the Yankees but that doesn’t mean I have to wear their uniform”.

    I was stunned – he essentially admitted that he considered this war to be a spectator sport for his amusement.

    I wish they would play that clip everyday.

  13. 13.

    Punchy

    September 28, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    Speaking of Shiavo, I’m thirsty.

  14. 14.

    28 Percent

    September 28, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Lambchop is right this man was in the chain of command for Abu Ghraib maybe you have not heard of “chain of command” because you are so anti-military but responsibility goes all the way to the top and you cannot get higher than Sanchez except for Rumsfeld or the President so you see the ultimate full responsibility belongs to Sanchez. It is not surprising that he is saying things like this now he probably does not like having to accept the blame but if something goes badly in a war it is either the fault of the military execution or the political leaders there is no other choice and so clearly this was Sanchez’s fault. He should own up to it like a man.

    But he was not saying what you say he was saying. You do not even know what he was saying or whether he said it. It is wrong of you to say that you know what he said when you were not even there when he did not say it and if you were then we would not know that you were there only that you said that you were. These things can be photoshpped you know maybe you have not heard of it but it is true. He was probably referring to some other “senior leadership” that could mean anything.

  15. 15.

    Dreggas

    September 28, 2007 at 2:32 pm

    Tsulagi Says:

    I don’t know if I’d agree completely with that statement. It implies this admin has had the intelligence to accomplish ‘winning’ in Iraq, but choose not to. But he’s right the prez loves to play dress-up as the war president.

    You forget they most likely knew there was no “winning” which is why there was no “plan to win”. These people got what they wanted, never ending war and a foothold on the doorstep of Iran and Syria. There’d be no need to worry about violating air space when you can fly from the territory you occupy into their territory.

  16. 16.

    Stooleo

    September 28, 2007 at 2:41 pm

    Assuming the next administration is the Democrats, the Attorney General needs to persue Bush et all for war crimes. No statute of limitations on war crimes. And don’t think that they haven’t thought about it either.

    http://tinyurl.com/22byls

  17. 17.

    Rick Taylor

    September 28, 2007 at 2:57 pm

    I’m surprised no one has brought up this quote :

    “He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999,” said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. “It was on his mind. He said to me: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”

  18. 18.

    Ugh

    September 28, 2007 at 3:48 pm

    Tim – FYI there’s another letter from Waxman to the State Dep’t’s IG.

  19. 19.

    The Other Steve

    September 28, 2007 at 4:23 pm

    So now the “Butcher Of Abu Ghraib” is a Brave and Sensible Whistleblower for speaking (off-the-record) against Bush?

    So you are calling Sanchez the Butcher of Abu Ghraib?

  20. 20.

    whippoorwill

    September 28, 2007 at 4:42 pm

    responsibility goes all the way to the top and you cannot get higher than Sanchez except for Rumsfeld or the President so you see the ultimate full responsibility belongs to Sanchez.

    Today’s lesson in wingnut logic.

  21. 21.

    RSA

    September 28, 2007 at 5:08 pm

    So you are calling Sanchez the Butcher of Abu Ghraib?

    Everyone knows he was. Why, just google “Butcher of Abu Ghraib” to see all six hits (one of them to this blog).

  22. 22.

    jrg

    September 28, 2007 at 6:33 pm

    Everyone knows he was. Why, just google “Butcher of Abu Ghraib” to see all six hits (one of them to this blog).

    …This man El Sanchez, he’s not just famous, he’s IN-famous.

  23. 23.

    SPIIDERWEB™

    September 28, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    I’m so sorry. Was there more to your post? After reading this:

    Everybody knows that Republicans care terribly deeply about American kids fighting and dying in Iraq and would never, ever consider putting their political interests ahead of the brave young men whom they sent to war.

    I just couldn’t stop laughing and had to take a walk.

  24. 24.

    Chuck Butcher

    September 28, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    Viet Nam withdrawal, check what year the Dems lost Congress.

  25. 25.

    conumbdrum

    September 28, 2007 at 7:10 pm

    But he was not saying what you say he was saying. You do not even know what he was saying or whether he said it. It is wrong of you to say that you know what he said when you were not even there when he did not say it and if you were then we would not know that you were there only that you said that you were.

    Pure poetry. Gertrude Stein couldn’t have put it better.

    Then again, 28 Percenter might have been homeschooled, and never got introduced to the comma.

  26. 26.

    SPIIDERWEB™

    September 28, 2007 at 9:52 pm

    conumbdrum,

    You use commas?

    I’m personally afraid of them.

  27. 27.

    jake

    September 29, 2007 at 11:30 am

    Ahem. S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y.

  28. 28.

    rachel

    September 29, 2007 at 11:48 am

    teh internets: srs biznis

  29. 29.

    Bubblegum Tate

    September 29, 2007 at 4:28 pm

    I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”

    I love this quuote because Bush doesn’t seem to understand that the two things he says he’s going to do are mutually exclusive.

  30. 30.

    jake

    September 29, 2007 at 5:48 pm

    I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”

    Please tell me this is a quote from Lil’ Bush. It sounds like the prissy bitchette in training from kindergarten. “You better let me have that swing ‘cos it’s the best swing and my mommy says I’m the prettiest!”

    Must. Not. Spill. Fruit. Juice. On. President…

  31. 31.

    tofubo

    October 1, 2007 at 7:07 am

    to basterdize a quote by the poet d.h.rumsfeld

    an approval of withdrawl in six days, the logistics of the withdrawl in six weeks, the majority removed from the country in six months

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