The neocon hawks pushed Bush to invade Iraq because
- Saddam had WMD,*
- Iraq was closely tied to terror attacks on the US,** and
- Grateful Iraqis would welcome our intervention. (three asterisks)
None of the above turned out to be true, but that’s OK, because Saddam was an evil man who killed and tortured any who dared to oppose him.
The good news from the neocons is that they don’t insist that we bomb and invade all the many other countries whose governments kill and torture dissidents. Phew, because that would be a long list.
No, all the
latest right-wing agenda demands is that Bush should prepare for war against Syria, Iran, North Korea, with an option for future action against Saudi Arabia and France.
Wow.
I feel very sorry for the soldiers who just found out that the Army can unilaterally extend their term of service. (four asterisks)
And I’ll be surprised if the Republicans are as eager to get all the military absentee ballots they can, in 2004.
* Bzzt, wrong. Maybe they were thinking of North Korea?
** Bzzt, wrong again. Maybe they were thinking of Saudi Arabia?
(three asterisks) Bzzt, half right. A lot of Iraqis are glad to be rid of Saddam. Unfortunately, not many are happy with the chaos and violence that threaten to engulf them, and probably will when US forces leave.
(four asterisks) Washington Post headline: “Army Stops Many Solidiers From Quitting.”
Through a series of stop-loss orders, the Army alone has blocked the possible retirements and departures of more than 40,000 soldiers, about 16,000 of them National Guard and reserve members who were eligible to leave the service this year.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Jan 4, 2004 at 3:39 pm
Betsy, I grabbed this from that Wash. Post:
“…thousands of soldiers forbidden to leave military service under the Army’s “stop-loss” orders, intended to stanch the seepage of troops, through retirement and discharge, from a military STRETCHED THIN BY ITS BURGEONING OVERSEAS MISSIONS.” [snip] (Meaning: it’s America’s Foreign Policy that’s at fault — this administration is to blame for having a shrinking military, because we just HAVE to stick our noses in EVERYbody’s business; we must be EVERYWHERE at all times, imposing our values and ideals, don’tcha know.)
“To the Pentagon, stop-loss orders are a finger in the dike…”
So, they have stopped 56,000 soldiers from escaping the military for what? To be used as Expendables for “collateral damage”? Doesn’t keeping someone against their will make them … uh, PRISONERS?
Now can we admit that we are, as a nation of citizens under full “Marshall LAW”?
Man, I tell ya, this shite is really starting to piss me off. I’m feeling like a volcano, about to erupt snot all over the blog world. I hope everybody takes cover, cuz it ain’t gonna be pretty.
2 althea_dahlia@y... // Jan 10, 2004 at 1:09 pm
don’t you know that questioning the motives of the Beloved Leaders is nigh kin to treason? ;)