So the White House is already starting to minimize expectations about the report on the surge here in Iraq. That can NOT be a good sign. I have felt for a long time that people like Casey and Petraeus were being set up as fall guys. The guys in uniform do what the guys in suits tell them to do. When the guy in the suit says, "The commanders on the ground determine the requirements, and they tell me they don't need more troops," what does that say to the commander who may have said that once but doesn't feel that way anymore? It tells him he needs to sit down and be quiet.
The president once said when Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) head L. Paul Bremer was here that no one was requesting more troops. When Bremer leaves, he finally says that he requested 40,000 more troops during late 2003 or early 2004 and was told, "no." Don't hold me to the dates, I think that was the time frame; he left in June 2004 anyway, so it was no later than June 2004. But Bremer was a tool, anyway. God, the catastrophic mistakes that guy made by disbanding the Army and forced de-Ba'athification of the civil service. Those two blunders will be seen by historians as where this violent, intractable fiasco traces its roots to. Had things gone differently then I might not have ever been here to put this blog together. But here I am, and Bremer, four years after he did that, is back in the States living safely. And I bet it never weighs on his conscience, either.
Which brings me to an enabler for this disaster to continue. The president spoke at a convention for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) last week. War is good for business for these veterans groups, and I'll tell you what, business for them has been pretty good. It seems that anytime Bush wants to take a break from exploiting the uniformed military, the veterans groups call a conference so he can be the keynote speaker. Last week it was the VFW, next week it's the American Legion. I am more familiar with the Legion than the VFW because my Dad is involved in the Legion. Frankly, I think both of those groups are a bunch of bloodsuckers. What on earth are they trying to do? Do they think having some love-fest with a walking, talking, disaster of a man will draw in new members? Has direct mail gotten so expensive that they need to angle for free news coverage to drum up business? How pathetic; how sadly, horribly pathetic. And these are organizations that are supposed to be devoted to the continued welfare of the veteran!!! Jesus, with friends like that who needs enemies?
Another thing that angers me is the coverage. The so-called Liberal News Media just regurgitates his garbage with vacuous reporting. The story is, "Here's the president, and here's what he said, back to you, Katie," when they ought to be taking some time to digest what the statements being made really mean. I saw the Full Of eXcrement (FOX) News Channel report that he was comparing Vietnam to Iraq, and I said out loud, "Isn't it a little bit late for that?" Hey, I thought it was humorous, but some of the guys around me didn't. No one said anything. So Fox reports that, and the average Fox viewer agrees with the president. Most of the rest of the country doesn't buy the BS. But where is the "Liberal News Media?" If they are going to be called Liberal, they damn well ought to start acting Liberal, but they don't and they won't. They ought to have a headline story about how unwilling the president was to serve in Vietnam, and juxtapose that lack of service over his repeated admonitions that "there is tough work ahead." Hey, major combat operations were supposed to be over in May 2003. Why are there 20+ brigades of soldiers here now? I guess he was lying then, because I read the papers everyday and I never remember him saying that major combat operations had flared back up.
Really--what's up with that? Why isn't that moment of theater staged at taxpayer expense constantly being replayed on the news as a demonstration of how discredited this administration is? I see the tape of Bill Clinton saying he didn't have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky more often than I see the Mission Accomplished moment. And Bill Clinton's libido isn't responsible for 3,700+ dead soldiers and hundreds of thousands of dead civilians. The first President Bush must be thoroughly ashamed of his son, considering how refused to drive on all the way to Baghdad in '91. What do they talk about at the cookout on the 4th of July? They sure can't talk current events.
The point I was originally trying to make, that these older veterans groups act as a stage for the exploitation of veterans, is important. Organizations represent people. It is assumed that an organization speaks for their membership. The president doesn't make speeches like the one he made last week on the steps of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He makes them where his handlers and puppeteers can manage the images and create their own reality. Spending time with the wounded and the families of the dead forces him to confront the truth that the rest of us see. No one represents the families of the fallen, and their grief is so private that no one should try. I hope that when folks see that the VFW or the Legion are buying into the BS, they recognize that the soldiers in the fight know what's going on. I have no interest in joining them, and if they ever make the mistake of calling my home or knocking on my door to get me to join, I will blast them so hard they'll wish they had never even seen my name. Anyway, onto more interesting things...
...like more T-wall art. I took these pictures today. Like I said, there are some very talented and creative people here on this installation. Take a look at these:
How would you like to have to drive this piece of equipment? It might get a little bit claustrophobic...
I love the sense of humor some people have. Look closely at the blade on the Stryker vehicle to the left...
Back to some T-walls...
The one kid died the day after Christmas...
And another one...
I'll post some more next time. See y'all in a little while.
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