Move On Please!
On the 6th year anniversary of 9/11 the media and many elected official have chosen to spend time talking about the MoveOn.org ad that was published in Mondays New York Times. Much of the rhetoric is centered on personally attacking a General in the time of war. The ad contains a picture of General Petraeus and below his photo is the following heading: General Petraeus or General Betray Us? This ad was published on the very day that the General spoke in front of congress about the progress being made in Iraq. What disturbs me most about the media coverage of this ad is that it derails people from having a meaningful conversation about the substance of the General’s report. The ad itself is not calling the Generals integrity into question per se. What it is pointing out is the fact that the Bush administration is not going to let the General give an accurate assessment of Iraq. How are we as Americans going to trust what the General is going to report when his commander has sanitized all the information that will undermine his justification for the troop surge?
I do not blame the General. He is doing what every good solider does-follow orders. The same way the Colin Powell did years ago at the UN when the Bush Administration was making its case for the Iraq invasion. Hmmmm, how did that info turn out? I guess history does repeat itself. The Bush administration is using yet another good solider for cover. To place the General in such a precarious situation is just plain wrong. And then you wonder why all of the top Generals who were in Iraq have left.
Now there is word that Bush is going to speak to the country on Thursday evening to announce that 30,000 troops will be brought home by next summer. Success you ask? NO, 130,000 plus will still be there with no end date in sight. And the Iraqi government has virtually quit. The surge was supposed to create an atmosphere for the Iraqi parliament to get their act together and they have not. What a freaking mess. The Bush administration is simply waiting for January 2009 so that they can hand off this problem to the newly elected President.
Honestly, the altruist side of me is wearing thin. I do value all life, including Iraqis, but I value the lives of American soldiers more. I realize that every prognosticator contends that if we pull out there will be dire consequences to be felt by the Iraqis, the region, and this country. Those very prognosticators where the ones who got us into to this mess and now they want us to trust them again. Fool me once…you know how it goes.
So let’s not get caught up in all the rhetoric/distraction over the ad. We need to focus on what’s next. There are American lives on the line. We cannot let our troops down the way this administration has.
I know there are no easy answers to this mess. However, as my mother always told me, if you make a mess you better clean it up. I wonder what his mother taught him.
DIALOGUE IS DEMOCRATIC!
R.
I do not blame the General. He is doing what every good solider does-follow orders. The same way the Colin Powell did years ago at the UN when the Bush Administration was making its case for the Iraq invasion. Hmmmm, how did that info turn out? I guess history does repeat itself. The Bush administration is using yet another good solider for cover. To place the General in such a precarious situation is just plain wrong. And then you wonder why all of the top Generals who were in Iraq have left.
Now there is word that Bush is going to speak to the country on Thursday evening to announce that 30,000 troops will be brought home by next summer. Success you ask? NO, 130,000 plus will still be there with no end date in sight. And the Iraqi government has virtually quit. The surge was supposed to create an atmosphere for the Iraqi parliament to get their act together and they have not. What a freaking mess. The Bush administration is simply waiting for January 2009 so that they can hand off this problem to the newly elected President.
Honestly, the altruist side of me is wearing thin. I do value all life, including Iraqis, but I value the lives of American soldiers more. I realize that every prognosticator contends that if we pull out there will be dire consequences to be felt by the Iraqis, the region, and this country. Those very prognosticators where the ones who got us into to this mess and now they want us to trust them again. Fool me once…you know how it goes.
So let’s not get caught up in all the rhetoric/distraction over the ad. We need to focus on what’s next. There are American lives on the line. We cannot let our troops down the way this administration has.
I know there are no easy answers to this mess. However, as my mother always told me, if you make a mess you better clean it up. I wonder what his mother taught him.
DIALOGUE IS DEMOCRATIC!
R.
posted by Sifter at
4:20 PM
1 Comments:
I was just talking about this whole "General Betray Us" situation yesterday with a co-worker. My opinion echoes what this blog is all about...the fact that these soliders (including the General) are merily doing there job, and his job was relate the information he was told to give. The soliders that are training and fighting in this war can't, at the same time, agree that they are fighting for nothing, as so many American's say they are. They have to have some faith that what they are doing is some how making a difference even if it isn't the reasons we are spoon fed by the Bush administration. Point is...we can't blame them for doing there job. They signed up to fight for our counrty and they are asked to put aside thier own personal beliefs and follow the orders that they are given. Perhaps our anger should be directed to the hand that's feeding us instead! Great Read Roberto...and a great point!
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