Re: OT: Get this!


"FL Turbo" <noemail@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:cipn339rb4i8oh84r740c4smqfudu67ndq@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 4 May 2007 18:20:45 -0500, "James L. Hankins"
<jhankins5@xxxxxxx[no spam]> wrote:


"FL Turbo" <noemail@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2ibn33d3m994hqerpj71dqaplmi4373ceg@xxxxxxxxxx



Old Generals are a dime a dozen.
They usually spend their time fighting the last war.

Maybe interesting for a historical perspective, but usually useless to
come up with new strategies for fighting the next one.


Wow. And you're the guy questioning the patriotism of others? Old
Generals
are a dime a dozen? Generals are in the business of planning and
executing
military strategies in real life and usually have experience in doing so.
The President maybe should pay attentioin to people like that. You think
the perspective of a military General, on a question of military strategy,
is "useless"?


The Pentagon is awash with Generals.
Generals who have long since been promoted off the battlefield.
Generals who have long since turned into bureaucrats.

If you carefully select the Pentagon General of your choice, you can
find any opinion that you care to name.


True. But I wouldn't be so cavalier in dismissing the opinions of those
with whom I disagree. Achieving the rank of general in the military is
quite an accomplishment for the most part. I think you're being a little
arrogant in making demeaning comments like that.


If you have a political agenda, you can certainly find any number of
Generals who will support any position that you care to name.

You of all people should know, that if you are looking for an Expert
Witness, you can always find an Expert that will support your client's
position.

The current administration's General is a man named General Petreaus.
He has been described by his supporters as the man who "wrote the
book" on fighting insurgencies.

I do not think he is old enough to have been promoted into a position
as a Pentagon General.
From what I know, the man has been a real live, boots on the ground
General.

He got unanimous approval from the current congress.

Of course, as soon as he took over in Iraq, those wonderful "support
the troops" CongressCritters started badmouthing him.

Won't work.
No way.
We lost.
Get the troops out NOW.

Pfffft.

Defeatocrats is too mild a term.




The only thing to really worry about at this stage of the game is:
What to do now?

Setting a timetable for retreat, and then publishing it for the people
you are fighting has got to be the dumbest strategy in the history of
warfare.



I thought the war was over. "Mission Accomplished" right? This part is
called "managing the peace" and is a component of warfare that isn't going
so well at the moment. Here's a newsflash for you: whatever we do over
there isn't exactly going to be a secret; or, if it is, it won't be for
very
long.


GMAFB.
Don't chant that stale old mantra.

Here, through the magic of the Inet, is the entire text of that speech
on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

-------------------------------------------------------------
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card,
officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans:
Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the
United States and our allies have prevailed. (Applause.) And now our
coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the
peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this
accomplishment -- yet, it is you, the members of the United States
military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face
danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible.
Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant
has fallen, and Iraq is free. (Applause.)

Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of
precision and speed and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the
world had not seen before. From distant bases or ships at sea, we sent
planes and missiles that could destroy an enemy division, or strike a
single bunker. Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350
miles of hostile ground, in one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms
in history. You have shown the world the skill and the might of the
American Armed Forces.

This nation thanks all the members of our coalition who joined in a
noble cause. We thank the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom,
Australia, and Poland, who shared in the hardships of war. We thank
all the citizens of Iraq who welcomed our troops and joined in the
liberation of their own country. And tonight, I have a special word
for Secretary Rumsfeld, for General Franks, and for all the men and
women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful
for a job well done. (Applause.)

The character of our military through history -- the daring of
Normandy, the fierce courage of Iwo Jima, the decency and idealism
that turned enemies into allies -- is fully present in this
generation. When Iraqi civilians looked into the faces of our
servicemen and women, they saw strength and kindness and goodwill.
When I look at the members of the United States military, I see the
best of our country, and I'm honored to be your Commander-in-Chief.
(Applause.)

In the images of falling statues, we have witnessed the arrival of a
new era. For a hundred of years of war, culminating in the nuclear
age, military technology was designed and deployed to inflict
casualties on an ever-growing scale. In defeating Nazi Germany and
Imperial Japan, Allied forces destroyed entire cities, while enemy
leaders who started the conflict were safe until the final days.
Military power was used to end a regime by breaking a nation.

Today, we have the greater power to free a nation by breaking a
dangerous and aggressive regime. With new tactics and precision
weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence
against civilians. No device of man can remove the tragedy from war;
yet it is a great moral advance when the guilty have far more to fear
from war than the innocent. (Applause.)

In the images of celebrating Iraqis, we have also seen the ageless
appeal of human freedom. Decades of lies and intimidation could not
make the Iraqi people love their oppressors or desire their own
enslavement. Men and women in every culture need liberty like they
need food and water and air. Everywhere that freedom arrives, humanity
rejoices; and everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.
(Applause.)

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of
that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders
of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've
begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and
already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're
helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself,
instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new
leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the
Iraqi people. (Applause.)

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it
is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done.
Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq. (Applause.)

The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on
September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19
evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and
the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in
the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the
"beginning of the end of America." By seeking to turn our cities into
killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could
destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world.
They have failed. (Applause.)

In the battle of Afghanistan, we destroyed the Taliban, many
terrorists, and the camps where they trained. We continue to help the
Afghan people lay roads, restore hospitals, and educate all of their
children. Yet we also have dangerous work to complete. As I speak, a
Special Operations task force, led by the 82nd Airborne, is on the
trail of the terrorists and those who seek to undermine the free
government of Afghanistan. America and our coalition will finish what
we have begun. (Applause.)

From Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of Africa, we are hunting
down al Qaeda killers. Nineteen months ago, I pledged that the
terrorists would not escape the patient justice of the United States.
And as of tonight, nearly one-half of al Qaeda's senior operatives
have been captured or killed. (Applause.)

The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against
terror. We've removed an ally of al Qaeda, and cut off a source of
terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will
gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the
regime is no more. (Applause.)

In these 19 months that changed the world, our actions have been
focused and deliberate and proportionate to the offense. We have not
forgotten the victims of September the 11th -- the last phone calls,
the cold murder of children, the searches in the rubble. With those
attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the
United States. And war is what they got. (Applause.)

Our war against terror is proceeding according to principles that I
have made clear to all: Any person involved in committing or planning
terrorist attacks against the American people becomes an enemy of this
country, and a target of American justice. (Applause.)

Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or
harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and
equally guilty of terrorist crimes.

Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups and seeks or
possesses weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the
civilized world -- and will be confronted. (Applause.)

And anyone in the world, including the Arab world, who works and
sacrifices for freedom has a loyal friend in the United States of
America. (Applause.)

Our commitment to liberty is America's tradition -- declared at our
founding; affirmed in Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms; asserted in
the Truman Doctrine and in Ronald Reagan's challenge to an evil
empire. We are committed to freedom in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in a
peaceful Palestine. The advance of freedom is the surest strategy to
undermine the appeal of terror in the world. Where freedom takes hold,
hatred gives way to hope. When freedom takes hold, men and women turn
to the peaceful pursuit of a better life. American values and American
interests lead in the same direction: We stand for human liberty.
(Applause.)

The United States upholds these principles of security and freedom in
many ways -- with all the tools of diplomacy, law enforcement,
intelligence, and finance. We're working with a broad coalition of
nations that understand the threat and our shared responsibility to
meet it. The use of force has been -- and remains -- our last resort.
Yet all can know, friend and foe alike, that our nation has a mission:
We will answer threats to our security, and we will defend the peace.
(Applause.)

Our mission continues. Al Qaeda is wounded, not destroyed. The
scattered cells of the terrorist network still operate in many
nations, and we know from daily intelligence that they continue to
plot against free people. The proliferation of deadly weapons remains
a serious danger. The enemies of freedom are not idle, and neither are
we. Our government has taken unprecedented measures to defend the
homeland. And we will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can
strike. (Applause.)

The war on terror is not over; yet it is not endless. We do not know
the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide. No
act of the terrorists will change our purpose, or weaken our resolve,
or alter their fate. Their cause is lost. Free nations will press on
to victory. (Applause.) Other nations in history have fought in
foreign lands and remained to occupy and exploit. Americans, following
a battle, want nothing more than to return home. And that is your
direction tonight. (Applause.) After service in the Afghan -- and
Iraqi theaters of war -- after 100,000 miles, on the longest carrier
deployment in recent history, you are homeward bound. (Applause.) Some
of you will see new family members for the first time -- 150 babies
were born while their fathers were on the Lincoln. Your families are
proud of you, and your nation will welcome you. (Applause.)

We are mindful, as well, that some good men and women are not making
the journey home. One of those who fell, Corporal Jason Mileo, spoke
to his parents five days before his death. Jason's father said, "He
called us from the center of Baghdad, not to brag, but to tell us he
loved us. Our son was a soldier."

Every name, every life is a loss to our military, to our nation, and
to the loved ones who grieve. There's no homecoming for these
families. Yet we pray, in God's time, their reunion will come.

Those we lost were last seen on duty. Their final act on this Earth
was to fight a great evil and bring liberty to others. All of you --
all in this generation of our military -- have taken up the highest
calling of history. You're defending your country, and protecting the
innocent from harm. And wherever you go, you carry a message of hope
-- a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet
Isaiah, "To the captives, 'come out,' -- and to those in darkness, 'be
free.'"

Thank you for serving our country and our cause. May God bless you
all, and may God continue to bless America. (Applause.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not exactly a "We won, now we can go home now", is it?



As if that isn't nearly bad enough, the morons in charge of Congress
had the gall to attach a list of pork to the appropriations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Galling list of stupid Pork Projects deleted here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Well, it's either retreat or devote the resources necessary to secure
fully
the area. Your dumb*** President won't do either of those. "Surges" are
bandaids on a problem that requires a tourniquet. So, yes, we should
either
bid a hasty withdrawal or set permanent military bases there with a
command
presence that will deter other countries in the region from getting ideas.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And of course, neither of those scenarios are allowed for by that
idiotic billl, are they?

It's all Cut and run, and the Iraqi citizens be damned.

What's the President's plan, Mr. Patriot? Stay the course?


There's a new General in town.
General Petraeus.
Remember him?


He does what the commander-in-chief says.




Read Iaccoca's critique and listen to Patton's advice from his speech in
the
movie. Patriots believe that America shouldn't stay the course; America
advances. We should be doing somethign one way or the other. Or as
Patton
said, I don't want to hear anything about holding our positions. We're
not
holding anything. We're moving forward and taking the fight to the enemy.


General Iaccoca?
I've never heard of him.

That is exactly what is happening today in Iraq.
Moving forward.
Long overdue, of course.

All we are saying:
Is give war a chance.

I'd settle for either of those course of action (since making the invasion
not happen in the first place isn't an option).


I most certainly give you points for that one.
Most all of the Moonbats try to pass off their 20-20 hindsight as some
brilliant foresight.

Seriously, Francis, your blind devotion to Bush's failed policy in Iraq
without any critical deconstruction at all just makes you look silly.


Seriously, James, you have been spending way to much time listening to
Defeatocrats to know what has been happening lately.


Have not!


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