Better Late Than Never?

We finally have confirmation that the Iraq Invasion was a "horrible mistake", via Republican representatives Dana Rohrbacher and Tom McClintock. At a recent Cato gathering they came right out and said that they and a good many of their Republicrat allies are now willing to admit that the war they so vociferously supported was a mistake. It really is too bad that their mistake has cost the lives of thousands of American soldiers and lives of uncountable thousands of Iraqi men, women and children. This is the kind of "mistake" that no sane individual can afford to make. If these people truly recognised that they had committed this type of "mistake" the least they could do would be to resign their office and return to their homes in shame. I'm not looking for that to happen anytime soon. People like this have no shame.

Two GOP congressmen say most Republicans on the Hill now believe the Iraq war was a mistake, and "more than half the Republican caucus" believes the way in which the US entered the Afghanistan war was also a mistake.

Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) made the comments at a discussion panel at the Cato Institute on Thursday.

Going into Iraq "was a mistake because I thought we had to finish the job in Afghanistan," Rohrbacher told the panel, echoing a popular Democratic talking point at the time.

"In retrospect, almost all of us think that was a horrible mistake," Rohrbacher said. "Now that we know that it cost a trillion dollars, and all of these years, and all of these lives, and all of this blood … all I can say is everyone I know thinks it was a mistake to go in now.”

There's a video at the source or via Youtube of their confessions.

Write A Blog, Lose Your Possessions

Via our comrade in arms Brad Spangler comes notice of a new Executive ruling from the office of the Emperor. This one is so vaguely worded that even anti-war blogging could result in seizure of your assets. Isn't it amazing that our country has come to this in so short a time?

...any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

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Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets
instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

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The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.

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Undermining efforts...that's the kicker, isn't it? Anti-Iraq war blogging could easily be construed to be an effort to undermine this Administrations efforts. Speaking out in any fashion against the inept puppet government in Baghdad could get you a visit by any one of a variety of government agencies. And, the best part, there's no judicial oversight, no warrants, no trials. You just lose your assets via government seizure. Of course they'd never use this against Americans. Would they? Oh, wait....

For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, ....

My disgust with the current regime continues to grow.
You may now go back to your regularly scheduled programme.

Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Bush, Iraq, Politics

The Government Moves Fast

When it wishes to, that is. It looks as if Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight is going to be discharged again. In what appears to be a retaliatory move for speaking out about being gay and being recalled to service in the US Navy the US Navy has announced that they are now going to "fire" him for being gay.

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Navy has informed Petty Officer Second Class Jason Knight that it intends to fire him under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law just weeks prior to completing his one-year commitment. Knight, an openly gay sailor, was recalled to active duty in June 2006 and recently completed a tour of duty in Kuwait, where he was open about his sexual orientation with his command and fellow sailors. Knight told his story last weekend in the newspaper Stars & Stripes and was notified yesterday that he will be receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy based, in part, on his recent media interviews. Knight was scheduled to end his commitment on May 28, 2007, but will face early dismissal because he chose to go public about his experience.

This is a sad commentary on the US military and their stance towards gay and lesbian Americans, but shows without doubt the ability of the military to move quickly when they're being shown up. If FEMA had been able to respond even a fraction as quickly as the Pentagon did in this case, the the government response to the devastation of the Gulf Coast would be a distant memory by now.

Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Iraq, Gay Rights

Don't Ask, Do Tell?

Well, it looks like the powers that be in the Pentagon are so desperate for warm bodies that they are recalling people to duty whom they have previously discharged for being gay.

On his wedding night in July 2004, then-Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason Knight finally accepted a truth he had fought against for years: he was gay.

Almost immediately, he moved to get his marriage annulled. He apologized to the woman he’d married. And when it came time to explain his changing circumstances to the Navy, he left nothing out. Under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, he was quickly discharged from the service.

But now — whether through a clerical oversight or what some claim is an unwritten change in policy to keep more gay servicemembers in the ranks at a time of war — Jason Knight is back on active duty.

How bad must things be in the military that this is occurring? Under normal circumstances I would applaud the decision the allow any gay member of the services to be allowed to serve, (if they wished), but given the current state of affairs in the military this should be cause for concern. Obviously things have deteriorated to the point where the Pentagon is blatantly violating their own regulations in order to meet manpower needs. There can be little doubt that this, combined with other recent events such as lowering standards for admission into the services is a strong indicator that things are much worse than we might have thought. Things are likely to become much worse.

Mr. Knight likes being in the Navy and hopes he can stay beyond his 365 day recall, but the spectre of a return to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges hangs like the Sword of Damocles over his head. As a now openly gay member of the military he serves at the pleasure of those above him. While we may hope that this does signal a change to a more enlightened and liberty oriented policy, the reality is likely a symbol of the continuing degradation of the US military in Iraq. Hopefully, Mr. Knight will see his dream come true and he will be the first of many openly gay soldiers and sailors who will get to serve out their terms. My most fervent wish is that they get to do so in a new peacetime force, far from the fields of war.

Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Gay Rights, Iraq, Iraq War

The British Are Going, The British Are Going

Is this the reason for the British withdrawal from Iraq? I'm just sayin'. If it is related, could we hope that the Bush twins could find their way to Baghdad?

Prince Harry's regiment is to be sent to Iraq for a six-month tour of duty, defence officials have confirmed.

The timing is surely a coincidence. Right?

Technorati Tags:
Great Britain, Iraq