Letters to the Editor
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LWM:
Great links to Odom articles.
As to this:
When I saw your letter, I had assumed you had seen the Clemons post already. If not, you are quite astute.
I wish I could claim such, but my thinking on this has been influenced by the writings of Digby, who also deserves a Salon Column at the very least. S/He has been writing of the battle between realists and neo-cons in the Bush Administration since 2002.
For any who know not of the finest blogger alive (sorry, Glenn):
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com
Atrios said it best with his comment that "if Digby posted more, I wouldn't need to blog at all" which sums up the only substantive critique I have: Digby doesn't post enough.
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They do so desire war with Iran
Glenn Greenwald, absolutely right on, as usual
"Springy", all you have to do is read what the neo-cons have written and said since before 9/11. A war with Iran and Syria is exactly what they want. Read the voluminous output of Bill Kristol's and Robert Kagan's Project for a New American Century; Remember the "you're next" saber-rattling that occurred just after "Mission Accomplished." Look at all the provocation that is occurring as we speak: yet another carrier group sent to the Gulf. Why? Do the insurgents have a navy or an air force? When people mass military force in your backyard it is because they want to provoke you. Bush is provoking Iran. The scary thought is that the only reason we are not currently at war with Iran is because of Iranian restraint. This is an amazingly unstable state of affairs.
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Kevnkray
There will be no ground invasion of Iran. Naval and air assets.
Stringy-"historical processes in Iraq" - not enough space, hardly Glenn's area of expertise but Stringy knows that.
"What will happen if the US does withdraw. Whether it will turn into a bloodbath should probably be part of their calculations"
It's already a bloodbath, or define it anew for us all.
"Perhaps you should make up your mind by thinking about the conditions on the ground?"
What is the source of your knowledge of conditions on the ground there now? Have you served there? Friends there? Or are you just getting that e-mail about school construction?
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Don't forget the marshmallows to go with the scary story.... Boo!
I understand that you folks are bored and need an adrenaline boost, but I'm sorry to say that we won't be invading Iran any time soon. We might bomb it a little bit, but nothing major like Bosnia.
As for staying, how about that sterling example we have in South Korea? It's kept the totalitarians at bay and in the meantime SK has become a formidable economic power. We've been there over fifty years I believe and it's worked out very well. Give occupation a chance.
P.S. I notice that all the arguments about invading don't seem to apply to Afghanistan. Why is that?
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Scientician
All bloggers are not created equal and the blogoverse is diminished by the absence of any of the top tier practitioners. Billmon, if you missed him, is definitely missed.
Digby is top tier but does something different than Glenn and Billmon was unique in his own way, like Glenn or Digby or any of the good ones. I like a smorgasblog of blogs. It's worse than cable TV. Too many good choices.
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What a drag...
I was hoping you were still stuck in a rough. We know you wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near a sand trap, like Iraq.
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Humes Ghost
I accidentally listened to the West Point chain-gang, loo-la-belly, grass skirt speech.
The next time he gets up to speak in a grass skirt to brag about his knotty-knees and swollen-ankles, light his grass-skirt on fire. You are invisible and can get pass the SS body guards of belly bush dancers. Next they will want a bonus raise for ugly legs? Gads. Thanks.
I remember a West Point medal wannabee hero get a pumping burst of bullets in his chest. Honest. He did get a Silver Star. He fell forward flat on his nose in slow motion. I'll never forget. Soldiers are sent into blazing hell fire.
The act of trying to help a comrade was sorta heroic (I not sure?), in that our First Air Mobile Unit Calvary platoon had a drafted private wounded and pinned down. Did you ever see and hear a lung cavity "sucking chest wound?" A hole in the chest does make a suck sound wheeze noise.
LT C-'s "valor" seemed like suicide. I'd mention his name but in memory, I'll just say, I agree with you, Hume. Now, go stub a toe. A compliment seems to make a boo boo thing like that sometime happen? Be careful, Hume.
Holy Ghost.
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Treason at the Weekly Standard
Okay, I'm addicted to GG's column and today's column didn't disappoint. The link to Odom's earlier piece was useful too. Articulate voices, both - but to no avail. Why is it that a former General is ignored and Fred Kagan and Bill Kristol get to determine our policy in Iraq? The "surge" was Kagan's plan afterall. And why do their simplistic sound bites (noble lies) frame the MSM political discourse? And why do the Sunday pundits maintain a strict wall of stupidity around their issues? [Regarding any argument about differences between online journalists and MSM - a key difference appears to be intelligence; no, not the Tenet kind, the thinking kind. By any measure, the online journalists are smarter. The online journalists provide information that is accurate and not spun, rather than simplistic disinformation and confusion.] But, nonetheless, the Weekly Standard, the American Enterprise Institute, etc. have the power to actually determine policy. Why? The answer to this is complicated to be sure, but they do have that power. This being the case, it occurred to me while reading Greenwald's column and seeing those familiar neocon names - Kagan and Kristol - that they are traitors. Consider the definition of treason (from Wikipedia): Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." This is what is being propagated by the neocons regarding US policy in the Middle East. As Greenwald, and many others, have made perfectly clear - Iran is in the neocon's crosshairs - and the rest of us (Generals included) are helpless to do anything about it. This is treason, helping a foreign government while at the same time seriously injuring the parent nation.