Top US general in Iraq: Operative Swarmer over-hyped

I'm watching Meet the Press from this morning...

GENERAL GEORGE CASEY: I wouldn't categorize [Operation] Swarmer as a major combat operation. It was an operation to go out into an almost uninhabited area. So it was certainly nothing like the operation in Fallujah. I think frankly it got a little more hype than it deserved because of the use of the helicopters to get the Iraqi and the coalition forces there. It might have looked a little more formidable than it actually was.

The use of the helicopters? No. I think it was your own press release that's still on the Pentagon Web site stating the following:

Operation Swarmer begins with the largest air assault operation since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

So, this was the largest assault on empty farmland since the beginning of the war.

They hate us for our farmland. Read the rest of this post...

Tom Cruise gets South Park rerun pulled

Looks like the Tom-in-the-closet episode got Tom a bit upset. Not only has Chef quit, but Cruise reportedly got the rerun pulled. But South Park's creators released a statement fighting back (not kidding):

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the "South Park" creators said in a statement Friday in Daily Variety. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies... You have obsructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail!"

And can I just say: Comedy Central, you suck. Read the rest of this post...

You can't spin a dead body

That's the crux of the problem George Bush and Dick Cheney are having with Iraq. (It's also the reason Katrina had the impact it did in terms of exposing Bush as incompetent.)

They can lie to the American people about domestic spying. They can lie about the economy. They can make up all sorts of bull about Bush's Supreme Court nominees being mainstream, about how Bush really hasn't polluted the air we breathe and the water we drink. How he hasn't weakened America at home and abroad. But even with Bush lying about all of that, it takes time to prove, and that's what Bush is counting on. The nation won't know for years the damage that the Republican's incompetence has caused (just think about global warming - Bush ignores it and lies about it, the Republicans in Congress help him blow it off, and it's your grandchildren who will be paying the price, long after Bush is out of office).

But when it comes to Iraq, Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and their Republican supporters running the Congress can talk all they want about how great things are going on the ground, but there's nothing they can do to stop the growing number of dead bodies - ours and theirs - from proving otherwise.

You just can't spin a corpse. Read the rest of this post...

Has Bush also authorized physical searches without the necessary search warrants?

Want to take bets?

And why wouldn't he? Why should we have search warrants or Miranda rights or courts at all in the future? Just take a poll. Should police have the power to search the homes of rapists? Of mass murderers? Of course they should! Should the government have the power to lock up pedophiles once and for all? Hell yeah! Screw the courts, we all know they're guilty anyway.

The Republican party is giving our nation one big civics lesson, and it's horrifying the message they've put into the minds of millions of Americans, especially young people.

Their message?

The Soviet Union had it right.

Police state. It's the new red state. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Just got back from visiting a friend who moved into a new condo that I couldn't afford in a neighborhood I wouldn't want to live in. Tell me again how the economy is doing so well? Read the rest of this post...

It's not about firing Rumsfeld, it's about firing Bush and the Republicans

Joe notes below that a NYT op ed calls for Rumsfeld to be fired. But that misses the point. The disaster in Iraq isn't about Rumsfeld, and it isn't even just about Bush. It's about 5 years of Republicans getting everything they ever wanted, and the entire country going to hell.

The nation can't, and shouldn't, let the Republican party and Republican policies off the hook by scapegoating Rumsfeld or even George Bush. Yes, the war in Iraq is a disaster. And yes, Rummy has been a disaster. And yes, George Bush is an incompetent disaster. But they are only symptoms of something much larger. Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush are simply doing what the Republican party has promised to do for years.

1. Cut taxes again and again and again, to hell with the deficit.

2. Overthrow countries we don't like.

3. Massively increase defense spending.

4. Cut back on civil rights and civil liberties.

5. Cut back on social programs, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.

6. Give far-right religious extremists a seat at the table.

7. Gradually outlaw abortion.

8. Attack gays.

9. Overall put government in your bedroom - e.g., Terri Schiavo.

10. Help big business.

11. Increase US dependence on oil (to help big business).

12. Decrease US regulation of big business, to hell with the safety consequences (e.g., the mining accidents).

You get the picture.

The American people voted for and got an entirely Republican government and entirely Republican policies. The Republicans control the US House, the US Senate, the Supreme Court (7 of 9 justices are Republican), and the White House.

What is happening to our country right now is the result of the Republican dream. Ronald Reagan's dream. George Bush's dream. Newt Gingrich's dream. And Tom Delay's dream.

The American people got what they voted for. And if they don't like the direction the country is heading, then stop playing games and blaming Donald Rumsfeld or even George Bush.

We are living under a 100% Republican government executing 100% Republican policies. They're doing what they promised. If you don't like it, don't vote Republican next election, or stop complaining when your elected politicians keep doing what they said they'd do. Read the rest of this post...

Top newspapers' editorials wimp out on Iraq war anniversary

Because God forbid the traditional media do its job.

Anyone who hoped that the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq would inspire the country’s leading newspapers to finally editorialize for a radical change in the White House’s war policy has to be disappointed, again. From this evidence, the editorial boards of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, the Knight Ridder collective and others appear to be as clueless about what to do as are Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld.

And as E&P; notes, Bush sycophant Fred Hiatt at the Washington Post didn't even bother writing an editorial on Iraq today at all. Though for him that's a step in the right direction. He probably would have just made shit up.

Of course, the one newspaper actually doing its job is run by right-wing gazillionaire and funder-of-all-things-evil Richard Mellon Scaife. It called today for a US withdrawal from Iraq, and warned implicitly against attacking Iran.

Just like in Congress, it's the Republicans who finally have the nerve to enunciate what should be Democratic policy. Read the rest of this post...

Competing, conflicting Rummy op-eds

Two key op-eds in the nation's major papers couldn't be more perfectly juxtaposed. One was written by Rumsfeld, one is about him. Given Rummy's failed leadership, it's hard to take his nasty op-ed seriously anyway. But it's even worse after reading the op-ed by one of his former generals, Paul Eaton, who castigates Rumsfeld.

The Washington Post dutifully gives space to Rumsfeld so he can get that message of victory out (given that the Bush administration has no other bully pulpit???). Rumsfeld smack his critics and tells us the "terrorists" are losing and blames the media:

The terrorists seem to recognize that they are losing in Iraq. I believe that history will show that to be the case.

Fortunately, history is not made up of daily headlines, blogs on Web sites or the latest sensational attack. History is a bigger picture, and it takes some time and perspective to measure accurately.

Don't forget that the Washington Post editorial page has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for the war.

If you're going to read Rummy, make sure you go over to The New York Times where a former General rips Rummy apart and calls for his resignation:

DURING World War II, American soldiers en route to Britain before D-Day were given a pamphlet on how to behave while awaiting the invasion. The most important quote in it was this: "It is impolite to criticize your host; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies."

By that rule, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead our armed forces. First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.

In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.

This is a very significant piece by a former top military leader. And, it negates every word Rummy writes and says. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Could be an interesting morning:

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (WTTG), 9 a.m.: Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.); Gen. George W. Casey Jr. ; and Mark B. McClellan , administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

THIS WEEK (ABC, WJLA), 9 a.m.: Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.); authors Michael Gordon , Christopher Hitchens and Jackie Spinner ; and Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek .

FACE THE NATION (CBS, WUSA), 10:30 a.m.: Vice President Cheney .

MEET THE PRESS (NBC, WRC), 10:30 a.m.: Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) and Casey .

LATE EDITION (CNN), 11 a.m.: Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi , Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Abdullah , former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski , former secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger and Casey .

What are you hearing? Read the rest of this post...

Three years later, the Bush Iraq strategy is just a public relations strategy

Bush's Iraq strategy has become nothing more than an effort to bolster his pathetic approval rating. He really thinks if he uses code words like "victory," it will make a difference. The American people have smartened up after three years of hearing it:

On the eve of the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion, President Bush yesterday promised to "finish the mission" with "complete victory," urging the American public to remain steadfast but offering no indication when victory may be achieved.

"More fighting and sacrifice will be required," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "For some, the temptation to retreat and abandon our commitments is strong. Yet there is no peace, there's no honor and there's no security in retreat. So America will not abandon Iraq to the terrorists who want to attack us again."

And as John noted below, AP busted Bush for using "straw man arguments" when he uses a term like "for some":

When the president starts a sentence with "some say" or offers up what "some in Washington" believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows.

The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.

He typically then says he "strongly disagrees" — conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.

Bush knocks down straw men regularly. That's the only victory he's achieving. Read the rest of this post...