dr. elsewhere here
No doubt most of you are as grateful as I am to hear this string of generals spilling the down and dirty on the DOD Secretary. (Oh, and you can now add General Wesley Clark to the list.) Sounds so good, doesn't it, to hear all these brassy truths, even if they are just a few years too late.
But there's something about the clustering, the coincidence, the almost cowardly (when you want it to be courageous) force of numbers, like a gang jumpin' a suit cuz they can.
If any of this has smelled even a little "off" to you, and even if it hasn't, you might find of interest James Pinkerton's take on how the timing of these barbed confessionals might have something to do with the pending release of a new book by H.R. McMaster, author of the 1997 Dereliction of Duty, which shamed everyone even remotely associated with the execution of our war in Viet Nam. Especially damning since McMaster is a bird colonel in the Army and did not condemn our presence in southeast Asia. His ire targeted those responsible for not assuring victory, which would have required that they actually stand up to Johnson's wanting butter more than the guns of war. In the face of such potential exposure, these safely retired generals may actually be exhibiting several species of chicken with their little demonstrations of pseudo-patriotic conscience.
In addition, Greg Palast shares an intriguing anecdote from a different general, one Jay Garner, that provides yet another angle on the whole holy mess. The ultimate point, of course, is that - for all Rummy's flash and contemptuous conceit - he's not the boss. Some idiot hired him, and that same idiot refuses to fire him.
That idiot is the guy who should go. Along with Dummy Rummy, Darth the Dick, and the entire cabal of criminals.
4 comments:
Barak Obama's not my favorite senator right now, but I like what he said about this matter. "(of Iraq) It's like someone drove a bus into a ditch. We've got to...first we've got to fire the bus driver."
Rumsfeld can go anytime. But I think it's more likely that Katie Holmes will give birth before we get rid of Rummy entirely. I see Uncle Donny hanging on 'till the bitter, bitter end, which by my optimistic calculations, should be mid-to-late August--and not an apocalypse too soon.
Palast seems pissed off that the generals are going after Rummy instead of Dubya. Interestingly, the game of "blame the advisors, don't blame the ruler" has a long history -- in countries ruled by monarchies.
For example, in the early part of the 20th century, many Russians could not bring themselves to criticize the Czar directly. Instead, the criticisms were directed at his advisors -- Witte, Rasputin, whoever.
That said, we do NOT live in a monarchy. Yet. And the American people understand that a thumbed nose at Rumsfled is really a thumbed nose at Bush.
jen, barak's comment could be followed up with, "...and the guy who hired him and kept him on knowing his incompetence."
hard to know what will happen to rummy in the short term, but the new documents showing his involvement with the torture of khatami are quite incriminating. one person has suggested the question is not whether to fire him but whether to indict him.
and anon, about palast, you're right, he's pissed at dubya. ain't we all? they're all in this together, and it does make sense to cut off the stinkin' fish at the head.
but be sure to read all of greg's article, as at the very bottom of that page it notes that greg has a book coming out in june that evidently relied upon garner's experiences. i suspect he has a bias from that, one that might well be quite informed. we should all watch for it.
Greg Palast is the author of one of my favorite quotes. While being interviewed once by Amy Goodman on "Democracy Now", he said,
I don't believe in conspiracies...but there might be a plot".
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