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Originally posted by Not Normal
Wheres the BS? Gore is right. The US is getting dragged through the mud in a third world country, our allies are deserting us, and our govt can't guarantee we wont all get blown to hell this summer. Big changes are needed.
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One:
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Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon.
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For all the "George Bush is a liar" cries they still can't prove that he's lied. They can prove he was wrong about things but not that he willfully lied about them.
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And now he will not honor our fallen dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their flag-draped coffins.
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Ahh yes, leave out his meetings and calls to the families of those who died and leave out the fact that the only people calling for pictures of flag draped coffins are the ass holes who will politicize them.
Three:
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More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance" to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does.
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Ahh yes, instead we should be subservient to the rest of the world. That's the answer. That will make all the bad go away. Let's all turn to the proper page in the Koran, grow our beards long, and repress women because that's what the terrorists want and God forbid our desires dominate theirs. I'm certain they don't want to dominate us they just want to contain us.
Four:
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Those pictures of torture and sexual abuse came to us embedded in a wave of news about escalating casualties and growing chaos enveloping our entire policy in Iraq. But in order understand the failure of our overall policy, it is important to focus specifically on what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison, and ask whether or not those actions were representative of who we are as Americans? Obviously the quick answer is no, but unfortunately it's more complicated than that.
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Listen then to the balance of internal impulses described by specialist Charles Graner when confronted by one of his colleagues, Specialist Joseph M. Darby, who later became a courageous whistleblower. When Darby asked him to explain his actions documented in the photos, Graner replied: "The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the Corrections Officer says, 'I love to make a groan man piss on himself."
What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of random acts by "a few bad apples," it was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy that has dismantled those wise constraints and has made war on America's checks and balances.
The abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the abuse of the truth that characterized the Administration's march to war and the abuse of the trust that had been placed in President Bush by the American people in the aftermath of September 11th.
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Oh but these actions are representative of Bush policy and every soldier who has followed it. Is that right Mr Gore? Since soldiers are only required to follow lawful orders, they must all be complicit in this case. Right Mr Gore?
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We are less safe because of his policies. He has created more anger and righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our country in the 228 years of our existence as a nation -- because of his attitude of contempt for any person, institution or nation who disagrees with him.
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Bush has not expressed contempt of everyone who has disagreed with him but feel free to spout ridiculous lies because no one will ever call you on it. And even if they do you and your supporters will change the subject and pretend you never said it.
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He has exposed Americans abroad and Americans in every U.S. town and city to a greater danger of attack by terrorists because of his arrogance, willfulness, and bungling at stirring up hornet's nests that pose no threat whatsoever to us. And by then insulting the religion and culture and tradition of people in other countries. And by pursuing policies that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children, all of it done in our name.
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Really? Please provide proof of this Mr Gore? You demand proof of every assertion the President and the Republicans make, where is yours? Please show me that Jack Smith in Tuskaloosa Alabama is suddenly at greater risk.
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Luckily, there was a high level of competence on the part of our soldiers even though they were denied the tools and the numbers they needed for their mission. What a disgrace that their families have to hold bake sales to buy discarded Kevlar vests to stuff into the floorboards of the Humvees! Bake sales for body armor.
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Oh so the soldiers succeeded in spite of the President but failed (in Abu Ghareb) because of him. You can't have it both ways Mr Gore. Either the leader is responsible for the actions of the subordinates or he is not. You don't get to pick and choose those which fit your political agenda.
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And the worst still lies ahead. General Joseph Hoar, the former head of the Marine Corps, said "I believe we are absolutely on the brink of failure. We are looking into the abyss."
When a senior, respected military leader like Joe Hoar uses the word "abyss", then the rest of us damn well better listen. Here is what he means: more American soldiers dying, Iraq slipping into worse chaos and violence, no end in sight, with our influence and moral authority seriously damaged.
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General Hoar was NEVER the Head of the Marine Corps. The Head of the Marine Corps is the Commandant. Hoar was a Lt General whose last position was Commander in Chief, United States Central Command, MacDill AFB, Florida. He retired in 1994. He knows little more about what's going on in Iraq than what he probably reads in the news.
Nine:
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Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni, who headed Central Command before becoming President Bush's personal emissary to the Middle East, said recently that our nation's current course is "headed over Niagara Falls."
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This coming from the same man who thought refueling Navy ships in Yemen A KNOWN TERRORIST HOT BED was a good idea. USS Cole anyone?
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The Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, Army Major General Charles H. Swannack, Jr., asked by the Washington Post whether he believes the United States is losing the war in Iraq, replied, "I think strategically, we are." Army Colonel Paul Hughes, who directed strategic planning for the US occupation authority in Baghdad, compared what he sees in Iraq to the Vietnam War, in which he lost his brother: "I promised myself when I came on active duty that I would do everything in my power to prevent that ... from happening again. " Noting that Vietnam featured a pattern of winning battles while losing the war, Hughes added "unless we ensure that we have coherence in our policy, we will lose strategically."
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And I'm sure there aren't a far greater number of military leaders who feel exactly the opposite. No that can't be true. Let's just leave all of them out of the picture that presents a far more realistic view of what's going on.
Eleven:
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The White House spokesman, Dan Bartlett was asked on live television about these scathing condemnations by Generals involved in the highest levels of Pentagon planning and he replied, "Well they're retired, and we take our advice from active duty officers."
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And why might that be appropriate? Perhaps because they are far more intimiately familiar with the facts of the situation. But, hey why not just call up all those who are ten or more years removed from current capabilities and see what they think. That's certainly an efficient method of war planning. Yep.
I could certainly go on but I think 11 is more than enough to justify labeling Gore's speech a complete load of bullshit.