A Note From Some Officers On Iraq

A snippet from the end of an LTTE in the WaPo today, written and signed by 12 Army Captains that have actually had their boots on the ground and their own lives on the line in Iraq.

This is Operation Iraqi Freedom and the reality we experienced. This is what we tried to communicate up the chain of command. This is either what did not get passed on to our civilian leadership or what our civilian leaders chose to ignore. While our generals pursue a strategy dependent on peace breaking out, the Iraqis prepare for their war -- and our servicemen and women, and their families, continue to suffer.

There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.

America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice.

While I have been against this illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq from the get-go, and for all of the reasons that have been proven to be correct, it is now time for all of those yipping and yapping, chickenhawk, never-ending war, cheerleaders to stand up and be counted.

What was it that was said last week? Oh yeah... Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former top commander in Iraq, called the war “a nightmare with no end in sight.”

It is time to end this nightmare.

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Scott Redd, tells NBC News that, “in the short term,” the Iraq war “probably” has created a “giant recruiting tool” for terrorists. In response to a question about whether the US is generally safer after having invaded Iraq, “tactically, probably not,” Redd responded.

More Bush McLiebercainman Success

Via Tparty at MLN:

Two weeks ago, on June 25th, U.S. Army Pfc. Andre Craig Jr. of New Haven was killed in Baghdad as the Humvee he was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device, leaving behind a wife and a six-month old daughter who he had met for the first - and last - time just this past May.

The funeral was yesterday. And Sen. Lieberman, he who "grieves for every casualty of this war" so much that he is doing everything in his power to keep our soldiers in harm's way, wasn't there:

Among those not in attendance was U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman. He sent a representative in his place. That angered some of the mourners like the Rev. Anthony Brown Sr., as well as the curious who gathered in the small park across the street just in front of Dwight Elementary School.

"Sen. Lieberman voted for the war. But he wasn't here to pay his respects to a young man who lost his life," Brown said. "Lieberman should be ashamed of himself. But that's what politicians do. They send someone else to do the job. They send someone else's kids to die for their wars."

While he who "grieves for every casualty of this war" more than anyone else didn't have time to pay his respects to a fallen soldier from his own state yesterday, Sen. Lieberman did somehow find the time to do a radio interview on WNPR, and have an insane warmongering op-ed placed in the Wall Street Journal calling for even more of our troops to have their lives endangered by invading Iran.

Yes, all of Connecticut can be really proud of repulsed by neocon junior's recent behavior. Meanwhile, in Iraq:

Contra Lieberman:

Suicide bombings across Iraq killed nearly 150 and injured scores, including a massive truck assault in a northern Shiite village that ripped through a crowded market, officials said Saturday.

The violence came as the U.S. military on Saturday reported the deaths of eight American soldiers over the past two days, all killed in combat or by roadside bombs in Baghdad and the western province of Anbar. A British soldier was reported killed in fighting in southern Iraq.

The worst carnage unfolded in the Shiite Turkoman village of Amarly, 50 miles south of Kirkuk, when a suicide bomber rammed a truck laden with explosives into the central market, which is near a police station, officials said. The attack killed at least 115 people and wounded at least 210, according to district and hospital officials, adding that they expected the death toll to rise.

If this happened anywhere in America it would be used to justify a nuclear war against Iran. Bet on it. But it didn't happen in America and this wasn't a stupid BBQ tank car bomb that didn't go off.

Had enough of this CATASTROPHIC SUCCESS yet?

Here is another report on the catastrophic success in Iraq from retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez:

Calling the situation there bleak, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez also said America has been in the grips of a leadership crisis since 9-11, and that only a sweeping re-examination of Iraq and a renewed, long-term commitment there that includes a large U.S. troop presence will turn the tide of the conflict.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will — not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," Sanchez told the San Antonio Express-News. "It's also kind of important for us to answer the question, 'What is victory?', and at this point I'm not sure America really knows what victory is."

snip

"I am absolutely convinced that America has a crisis in leadership at this time and we've got to do whatever we can to help the next generation of leaders do better than we have done over the past five years," Sanchez said, "better than what this cohort of political and military leaders have done."

Again... For those of you that might not understand the picture of the Iraq situation and American leadership that Sanchez is painting for you:

Another Picture of Success?

Here is another report on the catastrophic success in Iraq from retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez:

Calling the situation there bleak, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez also said America has been in the grips of a leadership crisis since 9-11, and that only a sweeping re-examination of Iraq and a renewed, long-term commitment there that includes a large U.S. troop presence will turn the tide of the conflict.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will — not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," Sanchez told the San Antonio Express-News. "It's also kind of important for us to answer the question, 'What is victory?', and at this point I'm not sure America really knows what victory is."

snip

"I am absolutely convinced that America has a crisis in leadership at this time and we've got to do whatever we can to help the next generation of leaders do better than we have done over the past five years," Sanchez said, "better than what this cohort of political and military leaders have done."

Again... For those of you that might not understand the picture of the Iraq situation and American leadership that Sanchez is painting for you: