Cheney's "Last Throes" Re-Defined as "Long Stretch" by Rummy
Gandalf Grey
Morning Report 6/27/05
The Pain Just Won't Go Away
Cheney's 'last throes' redefined by Rumsfeld as a long stretch-which neither
will likely serve
Dick Cheney must be in that "zone" craved by athletes in which time seems to
slow down. That has to be why he recently said the Iraq insurgency was in
its "last throes." Most of us knew better, and even fellow hawk Don Rumsfeld
confirmed it Sunday on his blitz of talk-show appearances. As this morning's
New York Times recorded:
In Washington, Mr. Rumsfeld and General [John] Abizaid said the American-led
operation in Iraq was making progress, but acknowledged that the insurgency
had become increasingly deadly and could last for years.
"Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years," Mr. Rumsfeld
said on "Fox News Sunday." "Coalition forces, foreign forces are not going
to repress that insurgency. We're going to create an environment that the
Iraqi people and the Iraqi security forces can win against that insurgency."
Rumsfeld sounds like a fucking auctioneer. Not that this is a big shock.
He's long dreamt of handing off a war to the current generation just like
the war that marred dear old dad.
This just can't be good for recruiting. I mean, even the barely educated
youths the U.S. military is desperate to shanghai know the difference
between "last throes" and a dozen years.
More careful readers of the Bush regime should note that there's a
significant correlation between the worsening war news and the number of
appearances Rumsfeld makes on the Sunday talk shows. Yesterday, he made the
entire circuit.
But perhaps the grimmest indicator is the Watermelon Index. As I noted on
June 3, the seeds of violence included the new tactic of poisoned
watermelons handed out one at a time to unsuspecting Iraqi police by "nice"
local vendors.
Now, unfortunately, the number of martyred melons has dramatically
increased, as the Washington Post reports today from Mosul:
A suicide bomber drove a red pickup truck loaded with explosives into the
building [on Sunday], killing at least six people, wounding nine and
destroying an entire section of the structure, police officers and witnesses
said.
According to the Associated Press, witnesses said the pickup truck was
allowed to pass through a checkpoint because it was carrying watermelons.
"We didn't suspect him. Everyday we see such cars because we're near a
market," one police officer, Mohammed Hussein Ali, 30, told the AP.
The Times reports that 1,000 pounds of explosives had been hidden under the
load of melons.
As Rumsfeld said of the insurgents during one of his talk-show appearances:
"They're killing a lot more Iraqis."
Apparently, Rumsfeld's furious pace of talk-show appearances was also
designed to brace the public for Bush's upcoming performance. As the Times
notes:
With polls showing that support for the war is dropping, President Bush is
expected to use a prime-time speech on Tuesday at Fort Bragg in
Fayetteville, N.C., to press his case for a large continued military
presence in Iraq and explain why the administration's strategy will
eventually work.
The success of Iraqi forces is the linchpin of the United States' exit
strategy from Iraq, as many battle commanders contend that the country will
slip into a civil war if the United States withdraws large numbers of troops
before Iraqi forces are ready to take over.
Yeah, well, we know that those Iraqi forces are, because of the Bush
regime's miscalculations earlier in the war, far from "ready." A better way
of softening up the country for the expected bad news would be to OK the use
of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Just for tomorrow night. How about it?
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles
we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."
--Thomas Jefferson