pinions of buddy don: tiz untellin whuts a'gone on in iraq?

mayhap ye dun saw that story in the new york times name of U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism on Iraq's Future. it splains a report they give mr bush bout how thangs is a'gone in iraq, witch seems lack thangs aint near as good as hes been a'tellin us:

A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.

The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.

corse, to be fair, ye gut to include the spin frum the white house, witch they put in that same articull to proov how thar good jurnlists:

As described by the officials, the pessimistic tone of the new estimate stands in contrast to recent statements by Bush administration officials, including comments on Wednesday by Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, who asserted that progress was being made.

"You know, every step of the way in Iraq there have been pessimists and hand-wringers who said it can't be done," Mr. McClellan said at a news briefing. "And every step of the way, the Iraqi leadership and the Iraqi people have proven them wrong because they are determined to have a free and peaceful future."

a bidy mite could wunder whar thangs went rong. i aint claimin that them ackshul folks on the ground, marines n such, wood know, but they gut pinions bout it. ye kin read em in a articull name of Turning point in salon by david j. morris:

On Sunday, at his change-of-command ceremony, the outgoing top Marine general in Iraq, Lt. Gen. James Conway, gave tragic voice to what thousands of servicemen throughout Iraq have believed for months. He announced that the April assault on Fallujah had been an overly aggressive mistake and that the often-vacillating American approach to the town had undermined U.S. efforts to win the hearts and minds of local Iraqis.

how could we make such a miss take? dint we larn bout this kinda thang in a nuther war? wasnt thay no lessuns thar? fack is, one of the bes known students of the vietnam war had this to say:

The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back was it was a political war. We had politicians making military decisions, and it is lessons that any president must learn, and that is to the set the goal and the objective and allow the military to come up with the plans to achieve that objective. And those are essential lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War.

now i aint claimin this particular student is known fer his abilty to larn thangs. at lease one of his teachers, a harvard perfesser name of Yoshi Tsurumi thanks he wuz among his verr wurst students:

"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."

. . .

One of Tsurumi's standout students was Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., now the seventh-ranking member of the House Republican leadership. "I typed him as a conservative Republican with a conscience," Tsurumi said. "He never confused his own ideology with economics, and he didn't try to hide his ignorance of a subject in mumbo jumbo. He was what I call a principled conservative." (Though clearly a partisan one. On Wednesday, Cox called for a congressional investigation of the validity of documents that CBS News obtained for a story questioning Bush's attendance at Guard duty in Alabama.)

Bush, by contrast, "was totally the opposite of Chris Cox," Tsurumi said. "He showed pathological lying habits and was in denial when challenged on his prejudices and biases. He would even deny saying something he just said 30 seconds ago. He was famous for that. Students jumped on him; I challenged him." When asked to explain a particular comment, said Tsurumi, Bush would respond, "Oh, I never said that." A White House spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In 1973, as the oil and energy crisis raged, Tsurumi led a discussion on whether government should assist retirees and other people on fixed incomes with heating costs. Bush, he recalled, "made this ridiculous statement and when I asked him to explain, he said, 'The government doesn't have to help poor people -- because they are lazy.' I said, 'Well, could you explain that assumption?' Not only could he not explain it, he started backtracking on it, saying, 'No, I didn't say that.'"

If Cox had been in the same class, Tsurumi said, "I could have asked him to challenge that and he would have demolished it. Not personally or emotionally, but intellectually."

so mayhap we need a better student to study these thangs, but i caint hep but wunder on a counta heres sum more quotes frum mr bush:

"A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam. When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming."
George W. Bush 2000 Republican Convention

BUSH: If this were a spending contest, I’d come in second. I readily admit, I’m not going to grow the size of the federal government like he is. [There was a question about] deployment. It must be in the national interests. It must be in our vital interest whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why we’re going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I’m concerned that we’re overdeployed around the world. You see, I think the mission has somewhat become fuzzy. Should I be fortunate enough to earn your confidence, the mission of the United States military will be to be prepared and ready to fight and win war, and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. There may be some moments when we use our troops as peacekeepers, but not often.
Source: St. Louis debate Oct 17, 2000

I want to rebuild our military to keep the peace. I want to have a strong hand when it comes to the US and world affairs. I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman. I want to be the world’s peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that’s well-equipped. I want to have antiballistic missile systems to protect ourselves and our allies from a rogue nation that may try to hold us hostage or blackmail a friend.
Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA Oct 3, 2000

I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening. And so I take my responsibility seriously. And it starts with making sure we rebuild our military. Morale in today’s military is low. We’re having trouble meeting recruiting goals. Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we’re overextended in too many places. I want to rebuild the military power. It starts with a billion dollar pay raise for the men and women who wear the uniform to make sure our troops are well-housed and well-equipped; bonus plans to keep some of our high-skilled folks in the services; and a commander in chief who clearly sets the mission.
Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA Oct 3, 2000

Despite Pentagon assurances that all of the U.S. Army’s divisions are “fit to fight and ready to deploy,” Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush refused Friday to concede that the U.S. military is combat-ready. “No, I would not concede that necessarily. I’m amazed that they would put out a statement right after our convention” The U.S. Army said Friday that Bush was wrong when he said in his speech Thursday night to the Republican National Convention that two of the Army’s 10 divisions were not ready to fight. Bush had said: “If called on by the commander-in-chief today, two entire divisions of the Army would have to report ‘Not ready for duty, sir.’” But Maj. Thomas Collins, an Army spokesman, told CNN: “All 10 Army divisions are combat-ready, fully able to meet their war-fighting mission.”
Source: CNN.com Aug 4, 2000

A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam. When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.
Source: Speech to Republican National Convention Aug 3, 2000

innerestin thangs bout them quotes:

1. bush has grown the fedrul gummint at a rate of 8% per year, cumpard to clintons 4%, so he ackshly is a bit shy whenever he sez he couldnt spend as fast as mr gore, differents bein how he lacks to spend borried money.
2. the military that mr bush sed he woodnt stretch too thin and that he sed wuznt reddy wuz able to win the war over in afghanistan n had "catastrophic success" in iraq, but lack most of them left wing pundits sed, the peace wuznt near as easy to win. but the military wuz reddy. could they be stretched too thin now?
3. i guess ye kin wurk to reduce nuclear weppons in the worl but let yer friends in pakistan -- khan! -- go rite ahed n share thar secrets with folks in iran n north korea, witch seems lack they really do have wmd.
4. finely, fer the war in iraq, the cause wuz murky: furst wmd, witch they wuznt nun, then al qaida conneckshuns, witch they wuznt nun, then twuz to brang democracy to the middle east, witch the report frum his intelligents bunch dont list that as one of the remainin possibillties; whutever the goal mite be now aint clear a nuff fer him to state on the stump; ifn this is a overwhelmin vicktry, we need to go back to the dickshunairy to larn whut vicktry means or overwhelmin.

corse, thangs lack facks or reports frum his own intelligents shouldnt git in the way of a good bit of spin. so witch of the two candidates is tellin the truth? here's a cuple quotes frum em:

The president said while there may be setbacks in Iraq, the nation is moving steadily toward independence.

"Despite ongoing violence in Iraq," he said, "that country now has a strong prime minister, a national council and national elections are scheduled for January. The world is changing for the better."

Kerry condemned the president's comments as "distortions" while campaigning in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday.

"I'll be straight with you: Things are getting worse," Kerry said. "More than 1,000 Americans have been killed. Instability is rising. Violence is spreading. Extremism is growing. There are now havens for terrorists that weren't there before.

"And the Pentagon has even admitted that entire regions of Iraq are now controlled by insurgents and terrorists. The situation is serious – and we need a president who will set a new direction and be straight with the American people."

looks lack a toss up, huh?