Apparently, it’s our fault

June 24, 2007

Since the outset of the war in Iraq, Bush and his administration have enjoyed almost unfettered control over policy. Everything the president has asked for, the president has received.

Of course, more than four years after Bush launched the war, we now know that every decision the administration has made falls into one of three categories: a) wrong; b) tragically wrong; or c) you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me wrong.

Therefore, when searching for someone to blame for the failures, it’s only natural to target the one group of Americans who’ve had no influence on administration policy whatsoever.

IN THE MAIL: Col. Buzz Patterson’s War Crimes: The Left’s Campaign to Destroy Our Military and Lose the War on Terror.

I don’t think that the left wants to lose the war on terror, exactly — they just want Bush to lose the war on terror. I suspect, however, that Patterson’s theme is one that we’ll hear more in the future, especially if things go badly in Iraq.

As Kevin Drum responded, “You can almost smell the stink of desperation from the pro-war crowd. The next couple of years is going to be a nonstop frenzy of books, articles, TV shows, op-eds, radio segments, blog posts, and white papers about how everyone except George Bush and his enablers were responsible for our catastrophe in the Middle East.”

What worries me is that some of these clowns actually believe their talking points.

The RNC and Republican lawmakers churn out a lot of nonsense in the hopes of directing attention away from the White House’s foreign policy fiascos, pointing the finger at those who had no power to speak of from 2003 to 2006. The rhetoric is more pitiable than infuriating; one gets the sense that GOP flacks know how pathetic it is.

But Reynolds, Patterson, and some on the right actually seem to buy into the claptrap. There’s a disconcerting sincerity to it. Indeed, Patterson was recently asked, “Surely you’re not calling Democrats traitors. Or are you?” To which he responded, “I am.”

Patterson: They certainly are [traitors] if their behavior during our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is held up to the light of the U.S. Constitution. Article III, Section 3 defines treason against the United States as “adhering to (our) enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, and John Murtha, amongst others, are guilty of exactly that. […]

It’s not just the Democrats though but many on the Left — its faculties and administrations on college campuses, big media, Hollywood, and left-wing organizations such as the Ford Foundation, Moveon.org, United for Peace and Justice, etc. What is particularly disturbing to me is that these Americans are doing it while their fellow citizens are fighting and dying in combat. The best ally that al Qaeda has these days is the Democrat Party leadership. It’s reprehensible.

He did not appear to be kidding.

Honestly, it’s like watching a Twilight Zone episode.

June 24, 2007 at 8:03 pm

One of the problems with this kind of rhetoric is that Jane and John Q. Public aren’t going to buy that they’re traitors because they oppose the war and want to bring the troops home – they’re just not. And unfortunately for the Pattersons of the world, Jane and John are among the 70% or so who do want the war to end as soon as possible – and Patterson and his ilk are still operating under the assumption that the only people opposed to the president’s policies are on the left. Jane and John Q. are just as likely to be Republicans or libertarians as they are Democrats, and this is what Patterson fails to come to terms with.

I think the time when Americans could be bullied into falling into line with these terrible policies, out of fear of being labeled anti-American or traitors, is o.v.e.r.

It really is pathetic and sad – and also maddening – to see how deluded these pro-war people are.

Reynolds has subsequently posted two updates:

“UPDATE: Rand Simberg emails: “How can they want to lose a war that they don’t even believe
exists? The only war that they’re aware of is the one against Bush.” It does seem that way sometimes.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Yeah, they’re worried about this, and hence ridiculously defensive, for good reason.”

The second update links here:
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/188441.php

Me, I’m worried about it because of what happened as a result of the original stab-in-the-back legend. Since I can now be declared an “enemy combatant” and disappeared, I think I have good reason to worry when people start accusing me of treason, don’t I? Don’t we all?

Very troubling indeed to hear how deluded these people are. Kind of like the members of the military who consider Joe Darby, the man who disclosed the abuses at Abu Ghraib to investigators, to be a traitor and a disgrace to the U.S. military. He can’t even return to his hometown for fear of being attacked. He and his wife have had to move to an undisclosed location…almost akin to the federal witness protection program. It’s like he squealed on the mafia or something. It’s freaking insane!

The “War on Terror” is, and always has been, a red herring. A true “War on Terror” wouldn’t have involved an invasion and lengthy occupation of Iraq. It wouldn’t have involved a reinvigorated Taliban in Afghanistan. It wouldn’t have involved a seeming Bush administration indifference toward the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. “The War on Terror” is nothing but the neo-cons’ excuse for carrying out their PNAC agenda…and they need to invite continued instability throughout the Middle East in order to ensure that their agenda gains long-term acceptance.

I’ve gotten the sense over a long while that there may be a few things the right wingers really want us to say so that they can paint us all as a bunch of delusional morons, and one of them is that there is no war. Don’t pick up that one- if you say that there’s no real war going on, you’ll be playing right into their hands. I know it sounds really stupid, but I think they really think we’d say it, and wish we’d say it, so they can demonstrate how stupid (they believe) we are to the rank-n-file right wingers, fence sitters, etc.

Agree that the 2001-present military operations haven’t been tailored to combatting terrorism as well as they could have been because the architects of the operations had extrinsic goals, but still stand by comment #4- we have to acknowledge a war is on, whichever war it is- pure war on terrorism as we’re led to believe, or 1/2 war on terror, 1/2 war for profit-n-empire, which is more the truth.

This is so tribal, and so removed from reality that it is truely frightening.
The attempt is to build on the considerable hatred that has already been formented as the foundation. Since the hatred of those murderous (read abortion) is established, the bridge to traitor is very short.
Tribal, we are your family, they are your enemies. This is the stark choice presented by these people. This is the belief that we will need to shatter to reach any common ground.
It’s gonna be tough.

Buzz Patterson (what is up with Air Force officers and their nickhames?) wrote a book, I seem to recall, that “exposed” how Bill Clinton compromised national security.

If Col. Buzz is so worried about national security, he should investigate this administration.

And cosidering that the current Democratic leadership gave Bush the supplemental bill he wanted, how are they committing treason?

Well a good way to deal with nonsense is to attack shrub and company from the right. They been utterly incompetent in waging the war.

Bush chose where to fight. He was wrong.

Bush chose who to fight. He was wrong>

Bush chose when to fight. He failed.

Bush chose how to fight. He decided we didn’t need as many troops as the generals wanted. He decided we didn’t need a plan to win the peace after Sadaam fell. The generals had a plan, but Bush thought he could come up with a better one off the cuff.

Bush chose to wing it. He chose to roll the dice. We are paying the price now.

Bush asked our soldiers and their families to sacrifice everything because this was a fight to save civilization. The fate of the world was in doubt. He asked the rest of us to go shopping.

Bush is the decider, the commander guy and the commander in chief. As Iraq has gone to hell, he has been at the helm, steering the ship of state and the war as he saw fit. So today our soldiers face an impossible task. And they are at risk because somebody thought he knew best, somebody who chose to wing it.

The Buck has to stop somewhere. How about blaming the guy in charge. They guy at the top. The guy that made all the decisions.

Actually, it is. My fault, I mean. Completely. My bad. Yup.

I take full responsibility.

I’m such a traitor that I voted for Gore, knowing with eerie prescience that having a smart, well-traveled Democrat in office would undermine our ability to respond to any world crisis. I realize that’s hard to hear, but that’s how I (and more than half the country) voted.

I also was against starting a war in Iraq until we’d finished tying up the loose ends in Afghanistan. That, of course, was part of my campaign to destroy the military, as was my contention that, as we’d done a fine job keeping Saddam in a box, and he hated al Qaeda almost as much as we did, we could probably just go on keeping him boxed while we focussed on capturing Osama and using our post-9/11 worldwide support to dismantle his network. I barely deserve to be called American.

I’ve also been actively undermining the war effort by suggesting that some of the pallet-loads of cash we gave the Coalition Provisional Authority to ‘lose’ in Iraq would have been better spent at TSA getting a working no-fly list, and that a sizeable portion of the money we’ve paid multinational corporations for substandard work in Iraq might have gone to domestic ones to do work along the Gulf Coast. Heinous, I admit. What can I say? That’s just how bad I am.

Now, can someone please get Col. Patterson a nice warm glass of milk, and his meds, and see that he gets back to his room safely, now? And make sure the door locks, this time? Thanks.

NO ONE projects their own motives and evil intent, NO ONE plays the blame game like the Projecticons. Greedy, nasty, selfish, fat white men who can never have or get too much. They already have more than virtually anyone else in the world, and they can only continue to stuff their faces at the expense of the rest of us. And if you don’t like it, then somehow you are the one with the problem! We can’t let them get away with it. Republicons/Rejecticons/Projecticons: YOU are Osama’s wet dream come true. YOU let him get away in Tora bora. YOUR presidunce openly stated that he doesn’t know where he is and doesn’t give hom much thought. YOU have turned the world against us. YOU have invaded a sovereign, secular Muslim nation under by lying to the citizens of this great country. YOU continue to swell the ranks of Al-Qeda as you murder innocent women and children with DU cluster bombs and white phosphorous. YOU let people, Americans, OUR brothers and sisters die for 5 days in toxic, watery graves in Louisiana while the pretzledunce flies around in AF1 and KindaSleezy Ricebrain goes shoe shopping. YOU sent our brave soldiers to war without proper training, armor, or rest, and then extend their tour of duty to 15 MONTHS so that they can continue to die in Vietnam-era flak jackets and poorly armored hum-vees. YOU send them to Walter Reed to languish in squalid conditions as they return with no arms and legs. YOU alienate our friends and continue to create more enemies worlwide with your hubris and threats. YOU protected the oil ministries, but left the weapons stockpiles unguarded so that the Iraqis could get hold of the weapons and use them against our courageous soldiers. The list is endless. Rethuglicons, YOU are the traitors, the killers, the murderers, the torturers. God save the true patriots, those who love this country and have veneration for its values, those who will never let the lawless, despotic poseurs who stole the leadership in this country also steal their courage to stand up to injustice and fascism.

Hey, with regards to Osama, the Republican Reich did the real stab in the back when they attacked Clinton with the “Wag the Dog” crap. If the Republican Reich had not harried Clinton so, 1 million Iraqis, 3500 US soldiers, 3000 US civilians would be alive today.

I’ve come to realize that there will always be clowns out there, who employ the most tortured logic imaginable to justify their views — or just make up their own facts, without regard for, y’know, reality — and tend to leave reasonable people with gaping jaws and thoroughly dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

Since we can’t get rid of those clowns, we need to diminish their power to influence John & Jane Q. Public. The best way I know to do that is to marginalize them, by making fun of them when we can (especially when there’s a potential that J&J Public will hear) and otherwise simply move forward without paying any attention to them.

That some folks actually live and breathe the GOP talking points should be no more than a source of incredible amusement, sort of like watching a lame duck walk. (Ooh! Did I actually just type that???)

It would be one thing if the media were doing its job and facilitating an honest discussion of the facts, but we can no longer count on them to just report what is, and let people come to their own conclusions. For all the cherry-picking the administration did to sway public opinion, the media engages in the exact same tactis every day. They pick and choose what to say and how much to tell us, and how to frame it. They package it in a way that leads people to believe that they are hearing both sides of the story. It’s a head game reminiscent of the one all parents know works with their kids: if you give them a choice, they will almost always pick the one you say last – so if you want them to weat the corduroy pants, the question is – do you want to wear the blue jeans or the corduroy pants? They think they have made the choice they want, and you have maneuvered them to make the choice you want.

Part of this is because people are lazy, or don’t have the time – or make the time – to educate themselves, and have instead ceded the job of thinking to a media that has an agenda to push. Somewhere along the line, the media decided they could influence the story and inserted themselves into it to do just that. I’m sure it’s a powerful feeling, but it does a great disservice to the people.

When I stop and remember that this is a country where we are lucky if 40% of those registered to vote even bother, it seems like even more of an uphill battle. We have the power and we have the ability – we just need to seize it and use it and chart our own destiny.

There are at least two segments to the antiwar “party”.

Segment 1 is generally antiwar, antiwar on principle, against pretty much any war, against America’s imperial hegemony in the world, on principle.

Segment 2 is not against war, per se, but wants the U.S. to be both effective and idealistic. Segment 2 ‘s opposition to the Iraq War is not opposition to war, or to imperial hegemony — it is opposition to failure and futility.

The prowar party, to form a political majority, needs to get Segment 2 away from Segment 1. Calling Segment 1, traitors, is one gambit in a general strategy for alienating Segment 2 from Segment 1.

There are lots of people, in Segment 2, who do not want to believe that their country has failed in the worst ways and for the worst reasons.

The prowar party will say anything to hold onto power. Clutching our pearls will not stop them.

This is a typical ReichThug attempt to subvert and intimidate free speech and proliferate Das Base.

Another disgusting psychological attack on the American public to exploit and manipulate fear, hatred and lust for vengeance, brought to you by the No Peace, More War Movement (also known as the Non-Truth Movement) in association with the NeoCon 9/11 Hit Squad.

But 70% of American want the fuck out of Iraq. Instead the Loyal Bushie Brownshirt Cabal plans to expand the American Corporate Empire into Iran.

I’m sure “Buzz” Patterson is passionate about Iraqi national security (and justifiably so, since his corporate masters are building an empire there), I just think the majority of the rest of Americans favor American national security over Iraqi national security.

Honestly, it’s like watching a Twilight Zone episode. — CB

Especially now that we know — for certain-sure –that it’s not even Bush’s war, but Cheney’s.

BTW, part 2 of the WaPo Angler article is on line now.

Hey, when you lose everything like theyve done passing blame makes them feel better about their rotten ideology. Its like a mass murderer blaming the short dress his victim wore.

Typical Republican pretzel logic. It was a stupid idea from the first, executed using schoolyard tactics and maturity, but now it is clear to this visionary group that the only reason it didn’t WORK is because of liberals’ obstructionist ways – if only The Left had put its shoulder to the wheel with the same glittery-eyed appetite for destruction (nod to Guns n’ Roses) as The Right, there’s just no question it would have all come together. Somehow, due to The Left’s namby-pamby resistance, no WND’s were found – prob’ly Saddam smuggled them all out because America didn’t strike quickly enough – clearly The Left’s fault. Then the constant chatter from the Antiwar mouth-breathers distracted Paul Bremer from his inspired course, and caused him to disband the Iraqi Army, kicking off a bloody insurrection that persists to this day. Nice going, Lefties. Throwing reconstruction money around by the bushel basketful was working just fine until The Left’s insatiable curiosity grew an accountability problem.

Crazy and dumb is just about my least favourite combination.

It’s interesting to view this from the perspective of Russia, where I am currently vacationing. For all the claptrap generated in the British and American press about Vladimir Putin The Horned One and his ruthless repressions of his people, the place looks positively peaceful compared to America. Britain, too, for that matter. If Bush is really interested in destabilizing Russia, he should send over some Republicans, and then offer to lead the country himself – when he’s done wrecking America.

brian says it well: Bush asked our soldiers and their families to sacrifice everything because this was a fight to save civilization. The fate of the world was in doubt. He asked the rest of us to go shopping.

Buzz Patterson backed that, and a lot of other crazy shit, just like a lot of Americans. But they got exactly what they wanted, a Republican president, and a runbberstamp Republican congress. And look at the mess they made.

Suck on it, Patterson. You are going to be miserable for a long, long time because even Americans aren’t dumb enough to forget which party’s war this is.

Excellent insight! I guess antiwar party are not opposing the war rather they’re opposing Bush leadership.If they ruled four years back,they to taken the same decision what Bush did.Perhaps it would be right for the situation of 9/11,but certainly not now when we’re losing our soldiers in huge numbers…
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So, anyone who disagrees with the right is a traitor. The problem with this argument is that the vast majority of Americans would then fall into this catagory.

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