Sending Troops to the Border: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

"In 1997, Esequiel Hernandez Jr., an 18-year-old American student, was killed by a group of United States Marines on a drug surveillance mission in Redford, Tex., while he was herding goats. Mr. Hernandez was the first American civilian to be killed by active-duty military troops since the Kent State massacre in 1970 . . . "



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/national-guard-immigration-border.html

Bush WH in Panic Mode

A very wise old international union official once told me that the republicans are simply incapable of governing. This report from ABC seems to confirm that sage bit of wisdom.

"ABC News has been told the White House is in "panic mode" over the recent defections of Republican senators on the president's stay-the-course policy in Iraq.

Senior Bush administration officials are deep in discussion about how to find a compromise that will "appease Democrats and keep wobbly Republicans onboard," a senior White House official told ABC News. "

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Time's Up in Iraq Says GOP's Lugar

Thanks to the Washington Post for this piece.

"WASHINGTON -- Sen. Richard Lugar, a senior Republican and a reliable vote for President Bush on the war, said that Bush's Iraq strategy was not working and that the U.S. should downsize the military's role."

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Keep Our Guys in Iraq?

One of the rationales given for keeping our guys in Iraq is it makes it easier for al Qaeda to kill Americans. No, I'm not kidding you. Here's Dick Morris on the subject.

"I think that withdrawal from Iraq — it obviously gives al Qaeda a huge victory. Huge victory. On the other hand, if we stay in Iraq, it gives them the opportunity to kill more Americans, which they really like.

One of the things, though, that I think the antiwar crowd has not considered is that, if we’re putting the Americans right within their arms’ reach, they don’t have to come to Wall Street to kill Americans. They don’t have to knock down the trade center. They can do it around the corner, and convenience is a big factor when you’re a terrorist."

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Are the Democrats Too Tough on Bush?

Not according to a recent Pew Poll.

"Do you think Democratic leaders in Congress are going too far or not far enough in challenging George W. Bush's policies in Iraq, or are they handling this about right?

Too far 23%
Not far enough 40%
About right 30%
Don't know/Refused 7%"

Looks like 70% believe Democrats are either handling it just right or ought to be even tougher in standing up to Bush on Iraq.

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General Blasts Bush's Veto

Retired Major General Paul D. Eaton gave Bush a piece of his mind on Bush's refusal to sign the bi-partisan legislation funding our troops.

"Today, in your veto message regarding the bipartisan legislation just passed on Operation Iraqi Freedom, you asserted that you so decided because you listen to your commanders on the ground.

Respectfully, as your former commander on the ground, your administration did not listen to our best advice. In fact, a number of my fellow Generals were forced out of their jobs, because they did not tell you what you wanted to hear -- most notably General Eric Shinseki, whose foresight regarding troop levels was advice you rejected, at our troops' peril."

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Bush Turns His Back on Troops

Democrats offered our troops $100 billion in funding to get them the body armor, ammunition, jet fuel and spare parts they need.

Bush said, "No."

He's turned his back on our troops.

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Iraq Generals to President: You've Failed Us

Bush gets failing marks from two distinguished generals.

"Today, two retired Generals who led troops in Iraq expressed outrage at the President's veto of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act.

The President vetoed our troops and the American people. His stubborn commitment to a failed strategy in Iraq is incomprehensible. He committed our great military to a failed strategy in violation of basic principles of war. His failure to mobilize the nation to defeat world wide Islamic extremism is tragic. We deserve more from our commander-in-chief and his administration. --Maj. Gen. John Batiste, USA, Ret.

This administration and the previously Republican controlled legislature have been the most caustic agents against America's Armed Forces in memory. Less than a year ago, the Republicans imposed great hardship on the Army and Marine Corps by their failure to pass a necessary funding language. This time, the President of the United States is holding our Soldiers hostage to his ego. More than ever apparent, only the Army and the Marine Corps are at war - alone, without their President's support. --Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, USA, Ret."

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Marshall Nails It

Truer words have never been spoken. Josh Marshall is a "must read."

"Reid is in trouble with these guys for saying what most people consider the unvarnished truth. And to these guys that's unforgiveable.

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He Favored It before He Opposed It

The Democrats gave Bush a bill to fund our troops.

He says he opposes it.

He favored funding our troops before he opposed it.

There is no denying it.

It's driving the wingers completely nuts that we're using the "he-favored-funding-them-before-he-opposed-funding-them" ploy on Bush.

Payback is hell, eh?

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Bush Derelict in His Responsibilities

Today's must read from Townhall.com. This same report also appeared in the New York Daily News but without the damning last paragraph about Bush being "derelict in his responsibilities."

"President Bush should sign legislation starting the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Oct. 1, retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said Saturday.

"I hope the president seizes this moment for a basic change in course and signs the bill Congress has sent him," Odom said, delivering the Democrats' weekly radio address.

Odom, an outspoken critic of the war who served as the Army's top intelligence officer and headed the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, delivered the address at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He said he has never been a Democrat or a Republican.

The general accused Bush of squandering U.S. lives and helping Iran and al-Qaida when he invaded Iraq.

"The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place," he said. "The president has let (the Iraq war) proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued. He lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies."

Odom said he doesn't favor congressional involvement in the execution of foreign and military policy, but argued that Bush had been derelict in his responsibilities. This week Congress passed an Iraq war spending bill that would require Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq on Oct. 1."

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McCain Says US Wasting Troops' Lives

In a stunning display of perhaps accidental truth-telling, US Senator John McCain admitted that the US has "wasted" the lives of US troops in Iraq.

Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said Wednesday on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."

Earlier, presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, apologized for making a similar statement about the wasting of US lives in Iraq.

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Why Are We in Iraq?

At an official US State Department website, there is a map and a list of "Countries Where al Qaeda Has Operated."

Iraq is not one of them.

It looks like Bush attacked the wrong country.