THE US, THE UN AND THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES, V. 7.0

People here will justifiably resent being referred to as swine--and it constitutes a violation of the terms of service--watch your mouth.

Officer who rallied UK troops condemns 'cynical' Iraq war
By Kim Sengupta
17 September 2004


Colonel Tim Collins, the British commander whose stirring speech to his troops on the eve of the Iraq invasion was reportedly hung on a wall in the Oval Office by George Bush, has criticised the British and US governments over the war.

The officer, who has now left the Army, condemned the lack of planning for the aftermath of the conflict and questioned the motives for attacking Iraq. He said abuses against Iraqi civilians were partly the result of "leaders of a country, leaders of an alliance" constantly referring to them as the "enemy ... rather than treating them as people". This attitude was inevitably adopted by some soldiers on the ground, he said.

"Either it was a war to liberate the people of Iraq, in which case there was gross incompetence, or it was simply a cynical war that was going to happen anyway to vent some form of anger on Saddam Hussein's regime with no regard to the consequences on the Iraqi people. In that case it is a form of common assault - and the evidence would point towards the latter," he said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The speech of the commander of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment was seized on by advocates of the war. Col Collins faced allegations of misconduct during the campaign, but was cleared by an inquiry, and subsequently was appointedOBE.

Yesterday Col Collins said that "the whole international community is dismayed by the result of the Iraq war" but he felt that liberating Iraq was still "the right thing to do. There is no doubt that the country needed to be liberated. Whether it could have been done in a different way must be judged by history."

He added: "The evidence would show, in hindsight, that the preparations for a free and fair Iraq were not made and therefore one must question the motivation of the powers that went to attack it. There was very little preparation or thought given to what would follow on from the invasion.

"It is fair to say that the United States and its ally the UK are living the consequence having removed the Baathist regime without any thought about what would replace it. There's no doubt that there was a great deal of incompetence involved but ultimately I think one has to look at the reasons for going to war."

Asked about the claims of abuse of Iraqi prisoners, Col Collins said: "The abuse of any individual is to be condemned without qualification. However, I would observe that if the leaders of a country, or the leaders of an alliance, talk in terms of 'them', 'the enemy' rather than treating them as people, how can they expect the lowest common denominator, the basic soldiery, to interpret it in any other way?

"Leadership comes from the top and soldiers at the lowest level will interpret their need to act from the guidance given by leaders. They are either well led or badly led. Ultimately the responsibility for the actions of soldiers must come back to the leaders."

Col Collins was himself accused of striking an Iraqi prisoner with his pistol, although he was later exonerated. But he said: "Inevitably my decision to leave the Army was influenced by my disillusionment with the extent to which the Army supported me after I was doing my best to carry out orders as given. I don't think I was let down as much as I don't feel I was particularly well supported."

Statement From Rep John P. Murtha

Office of Congressman John Murtha
September 17, 2004

I have learned through conversations with officials at the Pentagon that at the beginning of November, 2004, the Bush Administration plans to call up large numbers of the military guard and reserves, to include plans that they previously put off to call up the Individual Ready Reserve. I have said publicly and privately that our forces are inadequate to support our current worldwide tempo of operations. On November 21, 2003, a bipartisan group of 135 members of the House of Representatives wrote to the President urging an increase in the active duty army troop levels and expressed concern that our Armed Forces are over-extended and that we are relying too heavily on the Guard and Reserve. We didn't get a reply until February 2004, and now as the situation in Iraq is deteriorating, it seems that the Administration will resort to calling up additional guard and reservists, again with inadequate notice.

Pentagon Plans U.S. Reserve, Guard Troop Call-up, Kerry Says

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said President George W. Bush has a secret plan to call up more National Guard and Reserve troops after the Nov. 2 election. A Bush spokesman said Kerry made a ``baseless attack.''

``He won't tell us what Congressional leaders are now saying, that this administration is planning yet another substantial call- up of reservists and Guard units immediately after the election -- hide it from people through the election, then make the move,'' Kerry said during a campaign speech in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The U.S. has about 138,000 troops in Iraq, including 46,00 Army Reservists and National Guard. Kerry, in a speech to the National Guard Association yesterday, said Bush's sending Guard troops to Iraq amounts to a ``backdoor draft'' that he would end if he's elected.

``It's just another baseless attack from Senator Kerry,'' White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with Bush to a campaign stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``He's struggling to explain his incoherent position on Iraq.''

Kerry spokesman David Wade said the four-term Massachusetts senator got his information on Bush's mobilization plans from Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee that controls defense spending.

Situation `Deteriorating'

``Now, as the situation in Iraq is deteriorating, the administration is planning to call up additional Guard and Reservists -- again with inadequate notice,'' Murtha said in a statement today. ``Our forces are inadequate to support our current worldwide tempo of operations.''

U.S. and Iraqi security forces have struggled to quell attacks by insurgents across Iraq since Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's administration took sovereignty on June 28.

As of today, 1,024 U.S. military personnel and three Defense Department civilian workers have been killed in Iraq, 886 of them since Bush declared major combat over in May, 2003, according to the Defense Department.

Murtha said Pentagon officials told him that ``at the beginning of November, the Bush administration plans to call up large numbers of the military Guard and Reserves, to include plans that they previously had put off to call up the Individual Ready Reserve.'' Murtha didn't name the officials or provide details.

The Pentagon announced in July that it intended to call back to duty about 5,600 Individual Ready Reserve members, discharged military personnel who haven't served at least eight years of active duty.

Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on Murtha's or Kerry's remarks.

Troop-Rotation Plans

The Pentagon's troop-rotation plans include retaining as many as 138,000 troops through 2005, Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress July 7. The rotation would include two National Guard units -- the 42nd Infantry Division, from New York and 256th Infantry Brigade from Louisiana, Schwartz told a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

The New York division is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in December. The Louisiana brigade in January has part of the 3rd Infantry Division.

The third major troop rotation planned for U.S. forces in Iraq reflects an administration shift over how many troops are needed, said John Pike, an analyst at defense research group GlobalSecurity.org. ``It's one additional indicator of growing realism by the administration on how the war's going,'' Pike said.

There's little chance the administration can order a surprise troop rotation to Iraq because this requires funding approval from Congress, said David DiMartino, spokesman for Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. He said no such request has been sent to the Senate.

The Pentagon hasn't discussed troop rotations for 2006 and beyond, Venable said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Tony Capaccio in Washington at [email protected].

To contact the editor of this story:
Glenn Hall at [email protected]

Last Updated: September 17, 2004 17:58 EDT

... As the survivors of the shattered, almost destroyed brigades of Armistead, Kemper and Garnett stumbled back to the line of the First Corps on Seminary Ridge, Lee rode among them, saying repeatedly: "This is all my fault." He understood, he took responsibility, he faced those who had paid the price and honestly admitted that he had cost them so much.

well I seem to remember someone saying it would be a slam-dunk. someting must have gone wrong.

Presidential Elections - AP
AP
GOP Mailing Warns Liberals Will Ban Bibles

Fri Sep 17, 6:24 PM ET


By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Campaign mail with a return address of the Republican National Committee (news - web sites) warns West Virginia voters that the Bible will be prohibited and men will marry men if liberals win in November.


The literature shows a Bible with the word "BANNED" across it and a photo of a man, on his knees, placing a ring on the hand of another man with the word "ALLOWED." The mailing tells West Virginians to "vote Republican to protect our families" and defeat the "liberal agenda."

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said Friday that he wasn't aware of the mailing, but said it could be the work of the RNC. "It wouldn't surprise me if we were mailing voters on the issue of same-sex marriage," Gillespie said.

The flier says Republicans have passed laws "protecting life," support defining marriage as between a man and a woman and nominate conservative judges who will "interpret the law and not legislate from the bench." It does not mention the names of the presidential candidates.

Jim Jordan, a spokesman for American Coming Together, described the mailing as "standard-issue Republican hate-mongering."

Gillespie said same-sex marriage is a legitimate issue in the election. President Bush (news - web sites) has proposed amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) also opposes gay marriage but said a constitutional amendment is going too far.

The RNC also is running radio ads in several states urging people to register to vote.

"There is a line drawn in America today," one ad says. "On one side are the radicals trying to uproot our traditional values and our culture. They're fighting to hijack the institution of marriage, plotting to legalize partial birth abortion, and working to take God out of the pledge of allegiance and force the worst of Hollywood on the rest of America."

"Are you on their side of the line?" the ad asks before making the plea to "support conservative Republican candidates."

It's clear now that Kerry hasn't got a clue how to proceed. It's becoming increasingly clear also that the chattering Bush/Blair critics here haven't got a clue either.

ican711nm wrote:

It's clear now that Kerry hasn't got a clue how to proceed. It's becoming increasingly clear also that the chattering Bush/Blair critics here haven't got a clue either.

And Bush does? He lead the nation onto the edge of the precipice and is doing his best to push us off.

OK! Suppose that you critics are absolutely right and Bush has been absolutely wrong.

What do you want done about it? Tell us what you do want done about it; not what you do not want done about it. What do you want Bush to do about it? What do you want Kerry to do about it? What do you want anyone to do about it?