How long in Iraq?

___________________________________________________


Here's a pretty depressing analysis of our potential future management of Iraq.

I think Tom is pretty much right on the mark. Between the large military bases we've built, and the massive embassy, it looks like we're going to be in Iraq in some capacity for a long while.

Colin Powell's original "You broke it, you bought it" assessment sounds pretty accurate right now. For something that the "conventional wisdom" pundits said would be nothing like Vietnam, it sure looks an awful lot like, uh, Vietnam.

Let's check back in a year, and see how much of this article rings true. Any betters?

-UF

Accountability.....

___________________________________________________


Can you spell "subpoena?"

Joseph L. Galloway is former senior military correspondent for Knight
Ridder newspapers, columnist for McClatchy Newspapers, and co-author of the
national best-seller We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young. Readers may write to
him at: P.O. Box 399, Bayside, Texas 78340; e-mail: jlgalloway2@cs.com.

Better late than never.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is gone, but there's little time
for celebration, even for those of us who long ago began calling for his
removal. The damage that men do lives after them, and it's time at last for an
accounting. The nation’s voters have spoken, and it's reasonable to expect that
the Congress finally will begin to exercise some oversight of the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan after five years of serving as rubber stamp and
doormats.

Can you spell "subpoena?"

For the Democrats who will soon take charge of the House of Representatives
and perhaps the Senate, too, here's a preliminary laundry list of some of the
things that need doing:
A comprehensive investigation of the pre-war
intelligence on Iraq and how it was perverted, how the mine was salted, and by
whom.

A thorough investigation of what pre-war advice was offered by senior
American military commanders on troop strength, equipment requirements and
strategy and tactics. Did even one general ignore the bullying from on high and
ask for more troops, and how did Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
respond?

• Why did the Pentagon send American troops into battle without enough armored
  vests, armored vehicles, rifles, ammunition, food and water? Who's responsible
  for that debacle which cost so much in blood and money?
  
• Where did our money go? Billions of dollars of taxpayer money disappeared
  down various rat holes in Iraq, forked over to contractors without even so much
  as a handwritten receipt. Who got the money? What did they do for it? This is a
  fertile field that can be drilled for years, with a steady stream of
  indictments, trials and prison sentences.
  
• What about those no-bid Defense Department contracts that were parceled out
  to the Halliburtons and KBRs and Blackwaters in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other
  more costly weapons and equipment contracts that went to big defense industry
  conglomerates accustomed to writing very generous checks to the
  Republicans?
  
• Why did an administration that was hell-bent on going to war, with the
  inevitable and terrible human casualties among our troops, consistently
  underfund the Veterans Administration, which is charged with caring for our
  wounded and disabled?
  
• What's been the effect of the grotesque politicization of the selection and
  promotion system for senior military commanders by the office of the Secretary
  of Defense? What failures have resulted from that ill-conceived action? What
  responsibility do those generals and admirals chosen by Donald H. Rumsfeld bear
  for the failure to prepare for and conduct effective action against an
  inevitable Iraqi insurgency?
  
• Who at the top bears responsibility for the torture and mistreatment of
  prisoners and detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and the Guantanamo detention camp?
  A score of Pentagon investigations got to the bottom of the chain of command but
  declared that the top, in Rumsfeld’s office and the White House, was
  innocent.
  
• Who's responsible for breaking our understrength Army and Marine Corps with
  endless combat duty tours in Iraq and Afghanistan? Who refused all suggestions
  that the force was too small for the mission, and that 50,000 or 100,000 more
  men and women were needed in uniform? Who stubbornly refused even to consider
  the inevitable consequences of an Army so tied down trying to man these wars
  that it no longer could react to an emergency anywhere else in a dangerous
  world?
  

Simply put, the jig is up. President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick
Cheney and Rumsfeld have come to the end of their free ride. No longer can they
act without thought or ignore the boundaries of the Constitution, the law and
common sense.

Did they really think they could get away with all of this without ever being
called to answer to history and the American people?

They all deserve what's about to descend on their heads. They deserve every
subpoena. They deserve every indictment. Most of all, they deserve a reserved
place atop the ash heap of history.

Can I get an AMEN!

-UF

Buh, Bye....

___________________________________________________

Hit the road, Rummy.

It's amazing how a little bit of political strength from a functional opposition party can effect change. It's too bad it took 6 years of massive incompetence and arrogance to get to this point.

Of course, it will be interesting to watch how the Democrats question Rummy's replacement during the confirmation hearings.

It seems that some folks feel that Mr. Bush may be making the same mistakes over again with Robert Gates.

“This is not a person with a history of telling truth to power,” said a former subordinate, Melvin A. Goodman, a Soviet analyst from 1966 to 1990.

More analysis on Gates here.

-UF

A clear call for change....

___________________________________________________

I'm proud and happy that Americans remembered yesterday what this country stands for and demanded a change. It's how democracy works, and after an attempt at one party rule, it's heartening to see it still functions....

I think Glen Greenwall says it best;

This was a great victory.

(excerpts)

"Democratic candidates won -- in every part of the country and regardless of their ideology -- by committing themselves to one basic platform. They vigorously opposed what have become the defining attributes of the Republican Party and they pledged to put a stop to them: unchecked Presidential power, mindless warmongering, a refusal to accept or acknowledge realities (both in Iraq and generally), and the deep-seated, fundamental corruption fueling the Bush movement and sustaining their power."

"Democrats didn't win by pretending to be anything. Democrats won because they emphatically and unapologetically vowed to oppose what the Republican Party has become and to put an end to its deeply corrupt and destructive one-party rule -- and that is what Americans, more than anything else, wanted."

"But if nothing else, yesterday's results should galvanize everyone who recognizes the danger this country has been placed in by the radical, hate-mongering, deeply corrupt authoritarians who have been controlling (and destroying) it."

And on the local level. McNerney beats Pombo.

This really is unbelievable and speaks directly to a constituency that had reached a breaking point with the status quo in the House. McNerney is an unknown, untested Democrat that was completely obliterated by Pombo in the election just two years ago. Yet, the need for change resonated so deeply, and Pombo appeared so tied to the apparent corruption in the Republican House, that the folks of the 11th district have decided to give this political greenhorn a tumble, tossing out the powerful chair of the House Committee on Resources.

-UF

VOTE!

__________________________________________________

It's how we can make a difference. As you may have noticed, uh, single party rule has it's issues........

Berkeley vs. Berkeley

___________________________________________________


So... What happens when full on "College Football Crazy Cal Bears Berkeley" meets "Laid Back Liberal Natural Fibers Long Grey Haired Pony Tail Berkeley"?

A pretty weird scene is what you get. I was at the Jupiter on Shattuck Aveneue Saturday night for a little pizza and jazz. Kind of your classic Berkeley scene, when about 70,000 Cal football fans hit the streets after pounding on UCLA. Instant frat/alum party complete with Cal baseball caps and sweatshirts. I can't say I can remember when football fever was quite so rampant in Berkeley but it's a pretty nice change of pace, and the band playing at the Jupiter dug it as the crowd went from polite jazzster head bopping to "let's jam-on, dude".........

-UF

San Francisco Values........

__________________________________________________


San Francisco Values.

One can only hope.....educated, open minded, spiritually flexible and accommodating, innovative, generous, diversified, progressive, tolerant,......

Now watch how all these traits are spun as bad, terrible things.

As opposed to these values. Forgiveness only when it's politically expedient and "your kind". The rest, apparently, can burn in hell.

-UF

__________________________________________________

Less political whine, more red wine........

__________________________________________________


Tuesday's election can't come fast enough for me. If I hear one more bitchy, negative, factless accusation ad I think my head is going to explode.

So, to decompress, I went to one of my favorite restaurants this week, Cafe Esin, and the waiter turned me on to one of the better Pinot Noir's that I've had in a while. If you get a chance to try this I think you might agree. 2004 Miner Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir.

It seems that the Santa Lucia Highlands in Central California is turning out some fine wines and Garys' Vineyard in particular provides many wine makers with outstanding grapes.

-UF

__________________________________________________

Republican distractions......

__________________________________________________


Oh, for crying out load. Anything to keep the focus away from the real issues.

John Kerry's actual point was that if you don't use your head, if you don't think and reason and pay focused attention to the facts and realities of a situation, you end up with a "follow your gut, make it up as you go" plan and its numerous pitfalls. Such is the quagmire that is Iraq. His intent was clear, even if his delivery was not.

The rest is just spin and desperation on the Republican side.

It's well past time for leading Democrats to call the President and his rubber stamp Congressional majority on this mess. I'm betting there will be a sizable majority of the voting public doing just that next Tuesday.

-UF


__________________________________________________

When they say "It's not about the oil"...

__________________________________________________


It's about the oil.

-UF


__________________________________________________