Sunday, June 22, 2014

Why All the Recent Unpleasantness In Iraq Is Actually A Good Thing For America

The current state of affairs in Iraq is very troubling, no doubt about it. I'm concerned the whole mess over there will lead to one big regional religious war.

Of course, nothing gives me more pleasure than the possibility of a bunch of religious extremists killing each other, but a lot of non-extremists would unfortunately suffer in the process.

But no matter how shitty things get over there, the recent upheaval in Iraq is a good thing for the U.S. because it is forcing Americans to take another look at why we got in there in the first place.  And in that regard, I couldn't agree more with this piece from Daily Kos:
Calling the invasion and slaughter that followed a mistake papers over the lies that took us to Iraq. This assessment of the war as mistake is coming mostly from well-intentioned people, some of whom spoke out against the war before it began and every year it dragged on. It may seem like a proper retort to critics of Obama (who inherited that war rather than started it). But it feeds a dangerous myth.

A mistake is not putting enough garlic in the minestrone, taking the wrong exit, typing the wrong key, falling prey to an accident.

Invading Iraq was not a friggin' mistake. Not an accident. Not some foreign policy mishap.

The guys in charge carried out a coldly though ineptly calculated act. An act made with the intention of privatizing Iraq and using that country as a springboard to other Middle Eastern targets, most especially Iran. They led a murderous, perfidious end run around international law founded on a dubious "preventive" military doctrine piggybacked on the nation's rage over the 9/11 attacks. An imperial, morally corrupt war. They ramrodded it past the objections of those in and out of Congress who challenged the fabricated claims of administration advisers who had been looking for an excuse to take out Saddam Hussein years before the U.S. Supreme Court plunked George W. Bush into the Oval Office.
These are all very good points, and the passage of time causes us to forget about a lot of this. In fact, reading the Kos piece reminded me of something I had forgotten, namely, Bush and Cheney's refusal to allow the UN weapons inspectors to complete their search for weapons of mass destruction prior to the U.S. invasion.  I remember thinking at the time that if the presence of WMD was the real reason the Bush Regime had its panties in a bunch over Iraq, then why not let the UN inspectors finish their job?

The answer to that question, of course, is that the Bush people knew there were no WMD in Iraq.  Indeed, I have no doubt that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and the rest of the (neo) cons knew during the run-up to their Iraq Clusterfuck that they had absolutely no justification to invade for any reason.  Paul Wolfowitz famously admitted that was the case when he stated shortly after the invasion that BushCo settled on WMD as the rationale for invasion because "it was the one reason everyone could agree on."

They just all assumed the war would be over very quickly and cheaply and that once the war ended and Iraq became a democracy, people wouldn't care why we went in there in the first place.  And if people did complain about the rationale for invasion, such folks could simply be branded as traitors and haters of America and its troops. Cheney certainly felt the war would end quickly, even stating at one point that he believed the war would last weeks instead of months and that we'd be greeted as liberators.

I've been pleased of late from all the media pushback on folks like Cheney who think that leaving Iraq was a mistake and that we should go back in there.  Even Fox News got into the act last week. But the author of the above-quoted Kos piece is absolutely right -- calling the Iraq Invasion a "mistake" distorts history because it projects an "innocent" quality to the run-up to that war, and there was nothing innocent about it.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Bonus Quote of the Week

"Does it matter whether the polarization, and the deep dysfunction that follows from it, is equal or not, including to the average voter? The answer is a resounding yes. If bad behavior--using the nation's full faith and credit as a hostage to political demands, shutting down the government, attempting to undermine policies that have been lawfully enacted, blocking nominees not on the basis of their qualifications but to nullify the policies they would pursue, using filibusters as weapons of mass obstruction--is to be discouraged or abandoned, those who engage in it have to be held accountable."

"Saying both sides are equally responsible, insisting on equivalence as the mantra of mainstream journalism, leaves the average voter at sea, unable to identify and vote against those perpetrating the problem."
- Norm Ornstein (via Political Wire).

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Even Megyn Kelly Has Grown Tired of Dick Cheney's Bullshit

Needless to say, I love this:
Fox News host Megyn Kelly confronted former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday night about his own foreign policy track record in Iraq, arguing history proves he "got it wrong."

Cheney had co-authored a blistering Wall Street Journal op-ed with his daughter Liz that blasted President Barack Obama for failing to negotiate an agreement to leave a residual force behind in Iraq and accused him of willfully undermining American leadership abroad.

"Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many," they wrote."

"But time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir," Kelly said. "You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators.  You said the Iraq insurgency was in the last throes, back in 2005. And you said that after our intervention extremists would have to 'rethink their strategy of jihad.'"

"Now with almost a trillion dollars spent there, with 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?" she asked.
The frustrating part for me with regard to all the recent Cheney horseshit is that no one was bringing up the fact -- to Cheney's face -- that he himself was responsible for the clusterfuck in Iraq in the first place. That changed yesterday during Megyn Kelly's interview.

Why Would I Be A Horrible Doctor?

Because I would be unable to treat people like this without laughing my ass off:
A Macon man was treated at Coliseum Northside hospital Thursday after he accidentally shot himself in the penis. The man was parked at the gas station at about 9:30 p.m. when he attempted to holster his .45.

Immediately after the gun went off, he drove to a friend's house in Lake Wildwood. When he got to the friends house, he took off his pants and saw that he had "shot himself in the penis and that the bullet exited out of his buttocks." The spent round fell onto the floor. The man's friend drove him to Coliseum Northside hospital and he was then transferred to the Medical Center of Central Georgia.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Quote[s] of the Week (Updated)

"If there's one thing this country does not need, is that we should be taking advice from Dick Cheney on wars. Being on the wrong side of Dick Cheney is being on the right side of history. To the architects of the Iraq War who are now so eager to offer their expert analysis, I say, Mr. President, thanks, but no thanks. Unfortunately, we have already tried it your way and it was the biggest foreign policy blunder in the history of the country."
- Harry Reid.

UPDATE:
"Which president was he talking about?"
- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, responding to Dick Cheney's op/ed statement that "rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many."

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Eric Cantor Loses To A Bagger

The GOP Civil War is still on, Baby!
In a shocking upset, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost the Republican primary in Virginia to tea party challenger and virtual unknown Dave Brat on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Cantor, the second highest-ranking member of the House was defeated by Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College, in the 7th District GOP primary by a commanding 55% to 44% margin with 100% of the precincts reporting their results. ***
One immediate effect of Cantor's loss is that the Republican Party will remain radicalized. The GOP wouldn't dare try to push immigration reform any time soon given Cantor's crushing defeat -- immigration was reportedly a key issue in this particular primary.

And speaking of Baggers:
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has formally renounced his Canadian dual citizenship, documents show. According to his aides, Cruz "is pleased that the process is finalized." The senator received the document Tuesday. It showed the renunciation became official on May 14. Cruz, who was born in Alberta on Dec. 22, 1970, learned about his dual status last year and promised he would give up his Canadian citizenship.
Hilarious.

Monday, June 09, 2014

One Vegas Shooter Was Even Too Radical For the Bundy Ranch