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Sen. Chuck Hagel Advocates Phased Withdrawal
Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, who recently joined General Abizaid in shooting down John McCain's "20,000 More Troops" plan for Iraq, has published his thoughts on the desert quagmire in an op-ed in the Washington Post. Hagel has been a harsh critic of the Bush Administration at times, and he pulls no punches here. Highlights:
The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose.
We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam. Honorable intentions are not policies and plans.
...
The United States must begin planning for a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq. The cost of combat in Iraq in terms of American lives, dollars and world standing has been devastating. We've already spent more than $300 billion there to prosecute an almost four-year-old war and are still spending $8 billion per month. The United States has spent more than $500 billion on our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And our effort in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, partly because we took our focus off the real terrorist threat, which was there, and not in Iraq.
We are destroying our force structure, which took 30 years to build. We've been funding this war dishonestly, mainly through supplemental appropriations, which minimizes responsible congressional oversight and allows the administration to duck tough questions in defending its policies. Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility in the past four years.
I find it bordering on the sublimely ridiculous that Sen. Hagel, or any other elected politician, or political operative, has the gall to imply anything but U.S. responsibility for a situation entirely of our manufacture.
"Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost.
Excuse me?
Iraq was nothing BUT a prize to be won, until it became clear we had no idea what to with it once we had it!
"It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism."
What?
Iraq became a CENTER of instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism, since shortly AFTER our escapade began.
"There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend."
Oh, my.
Dr. Kissinger, he of the "secret plans," says no military solution or victory is possible in Iraq? Where was he four years ago, playing RISK® with James Schlesinger?
In regard to the author's slip of the pen, I'm not surprised.
It seems our intentions ? honorable or not ? were never written down anywhere in the first place, or perhaps they were deleted before anyone with a sense of history could read them.
Solecism notwithstanding, there have been far more than the four "mis-es" mentioned in the article.
It left out
? mistaken use of intelligence
? misappropriation of funds
? miscalculation of cause and effect
? misled American public
? misbegotten premise
? misguided religious sanctimony
? miscarriage of justice
? misinformed decision making
? misanthropic outlook
? missed opportunities
Okay, so I threw the last one in.
I sure hope you don't misread MY intentions.
I find it bordering on the sublimely ridiculous that Sen. Hagel, or any other elected politician, or political operative, has the gall to imply anything but U.S. responsibility for a situation entirely of our manufacture.
"Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost.
Excuse me?
Iraq was nothing BUT a prize to be won, until it became clear we had no idea what to with it once we had it!
"It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism."
What?
Iraq became a CENTER of instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism, since shortly AFTER our escapade began.
"There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend."
Oh, my.
Dr. Kissinger, he of the "secret plans," says no military solution or victory is possible in Iraq? Where was he four years ago, playing RISK® with James Schlesinger?
In regard to the author's slip of the pen, I'm not surprised.
It seems our intentions ? honorable or not ? were never written down anywhere in the first place, or perhaps they were deleted before anyone with a sense of history could read them.
Solecism notwithstanding, there have been far more than the four "mis-es" mentioned in the article.
It left out
? mistaken use of intelligence
? misappropriation of funds
? miscalculation of cause and effect
? misled American public
? misbegotten premise
? misguided religious sanctimony
? miscarriage of justice
? misinformed decision making
? misanthropic outlook
? missed opportunities
Okay, so I threw the last one in.
I sure hope you don't misread MY intentions.
"Maverick truth-teller," Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) is, in truth, a lousy, no-good hypocrite: "There will be no victory or defeat for the US in Iraq."
Huh?, I thought $300B to date represents a big win for "Friends of George W. Org."
According to Hagel, a Vietnam vet, "Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost. There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq."
In fact, Maj. C. Cerniauskas sees it differently, "Operation Stuffed Animal," has distributed over 3K toys to Iraqi kids; by winning hearts they'll be winning minds--after overcoming gross violations of the Geneva Convention...
Having already announced his 2008 candidacy for president, Hagel says, "The future of Iraq was always going to be determined by the Iraqis--not the Americans."
Ooh--in August 2006, the Boston Globe reported how, "Corruption is a virtual pandemic in Iraq, threatening rebuilding efforts, international aid and citizen confidence needed for a fledgling democracy."
And so..., where Hagel says, "AMERICA CANNOT IMPOSE A DEMOCRACY ON ANY NATION--REGARDLESS OF OUR NOBLE PURPOSE," I say, now whoa there boy!
Formerly an investment banker, Hagel has held the chairmanship of ES&S (Election Systems & Software of Nebraska), the nation's largest maker of computerized election machines.
And, in 1996, machines made by ES&S tallied approx. 85% of the votes cast during Hagel's successful bid for office. In 2002, Hagel won again based on votes by ES&S machines; this time around his opponent made an issue of Hagel's ties to ES&S--futilely requesting a hand count...
Hagel still owns more than $1M in stock in McCarthy & Co., which owns a quarter of ES&S.
Smart boy Chuck!!! You're the Man--looks like you're a bloody shoe in...!!!
We won the war when we defeated Sadam and his army. The situation we face today in Iraq is not one we can win. This is no longer a War. It is a police action. The U.S. has put itself in the postion of playing police officer to an entire country. We cannot win as there is nothing to win. We do not see an opposition Army with tanks or a uniformed enemy. There is not "front", left flank or right flank. This is not a situation that our Army asked for or deserves. Is even one more Americans life worth it for this situation? I say no. We need to leave. The President must articulate a withdrawl plan that does not look or sound like a total defeat. We simply cannot go on like this any longer. Iraq needs a strong man. Democracy will not work for these people. Only a strong man can create order. We can do nothing for these people.
The word "honorable" doesn't apply to the Iraq situation,nor does the word "Democracy". The key word is corruption! Illegal invasion and occupation of the country to get control of their resources by the most corrupt country in the world can only lead to totat corruption! It's all about "submission"! World Domination! If you want to improve the world situation, CLEAN UP YOUR OWN HOUSE FIRST!
Hagel is just another lying phony Republican who was a major force in starting and endlessly definding this war. This piece of scum has no creds at all.
Nebraska is a red state and willingly accepts lies as long as they are from a Rethug so let them keep him.
I find it bordering on the sublimely ridiculous that Sen. Hagel, or any other elected politician, or political operative, has the gall to imply anything but U.S. responsibility for a situation entirely of our manufacture.
"Iraq is not a prize to be won or lost.
Excuse me?
Iraq was nothing BUT a prize to be won, until it became clear we had no idea what to with it once we had it!
"It is part of the ongoing global struggle against instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism."
What?
Iraq became a CENTER of instability, brutality, intolerance, extremism and terrorism, since shortly AFTER our escapade began.
"There will be no military victory or military solution for Iraq. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made this point last weekend."
Oh, my.
Dr. Kissinger, he of the "secret plans," says no military solution or victory is possible in Iraq? Where was he four years ago, playing RISK® with James Schlesinger?
In regard to the author's slip of the pen, I'm not surprised.
It seems our intentions honorable or not were never written down anywhere in the first place, or perhaps they were deleted before anyone with a sense of history could read them.
Solecism notwithstanding, there have been far more than the four "mis-es" mentioned in the article.
It left out
mistaken use of intelligence
misappropriation of funds
miscalculation of cause and effect
misled American public
misbegotten premise
misguided religious sanctimony
miscarriage of justice
misinformed decision making
misanthropic outlook
missed opportunities
Okay, so I threw the last one in.
I sure hope you don't misread MY intentions.