If the document dump of 90,000+ pages by
WikiLeaks revealed anything, there is a huge disparity between ‘truth’
versus the ‘official’ story. Shades of Vietnam? Although it will take weeks, perhaps months, to read, redact, and release the full dump, two themes have emerged that will remain essentially unchanged:
- The Bush/Cheney administration underestimated, shortchanged, and mismanaged the Afghan War as it underestimated, shortchanged, and mismanaged the Iraq War.
- Pakistan has never been an honest partner in the conflict. As Pakistan pocketed billions in economic and military aid, its secret intelligence agency served as a clearinghouse for Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents.
If I were the President facing an unfixable war, what would I do? Find a way to let the truth be told … and switch on the ceiling fan!
I'm sorry but this is all bullshit. We didn't need a document dump to prove what we've all known for years. Both wars have been frauds from the get go. Both wars have been mismanaged. And the only reason we are in Iraq and Afghanistan now is because the Dems are too scared to look defeatist and Obama doesn't want a couple hundred thousand unemployed hitting the books.
ReplyDeleteSobe, we don't need a document dump ... but they do, whoever 'they' may be. If the 'dump' starts an 'honest' public debate and brings these conflicts to end, then it served a purpose.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same group that released the Collateral Damage Video last year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we all saw that. It definitely changed many a people's mind about the War. This may be the turning point. Maybe we can bring our troops home at last. Like most Wars this one is Bullshit too.
Factoid: There are nearly one people with 'top secret' security clearances.
ReplyDeleteAs was the case with the Pentagon Papers and virtually every exposure of the workings of our government during 'wartime' the effect has nothing to do with endangering the troops and everything to do with shielding our fearless leaders from scrutiny and subsequent embarrassment for their idiotic misadventures. The 'enemy' knows what's going on. Our 'allies' know what's going on.
As per usual it's the US citizen/taxpayer getting a nudge when something like this happens. And given the complacency of America at this moment in time I wonder if these revelations (if there are any) will make the slightest difference.
As I believe Arthurstone suggests, the trouble with the "National Security" restrictions on info release seems to be that over the years, national security pretty much has come to mean "anything that embarrasses some higher-up or other in government or the military."
ReplyDeleteEven without any leaks to tell us the problems we have, Afghanistan has a long history with foreign powers, and that history, so far as I can tell, is anything but encouraging with regard to the present venture.
My nephew was deployed to Afghanistan last week.
ReplyDeleteI have a personal stake in this futile adventure.
It's time to take to the streets and protest this senseless war.
It is Bush's failure. But Mr. Obama needs to rectify it.
I wrote the above comment before checking my email. This is what I received from Matt, my nephew:
ReplyDeleteHello There!
As you have heard, I'm in Afghanistan now. I can't say where exactly I am or what I'm doing, or even with whom I am affiliated.
I am safe though and work a pretty regular schedule. I've brought plenty of reading material and have music to listen to so I'm content. I get a lot of time to work out when I'm not at work.
Anyway, I wanted to check in with you. I'm almost always at my computer, so this is the easiest way to contact me, but if you feel like using snail mail, my address is:
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx
I have no idea what the turnaround time is for mail out here, but I'll write you if you give me your address. I'm scheduled to come back around mid October, but again, I can't give you a specific date. Anyway, Miss you guys bunches!
Much Love,
matt
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) was just on The Today Show and said that we need to be in Af. "to protect the interests of our allies and to protect our own interests." Isn't this what was said to justify the carnage in Vietnam?
ReplyDeleteIf one considers 'our own interests' as the continued economic vigor of defense contractors, their lobbyists, "think"-tank "scholars" providing the rationale and their minions in congress and anyone else with a vested interest in the direct economic benefit of American empire then the Senator from Missouri is absolutely correct.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider "our own interests" those of the overwhelming majority of Americans, our allies and other citizens of the world then the Senator is very much mistaken.
Which leads us back to Octopus' most excellent post on the '...Primacy of the Sewer' and the question of why we allow ourselves to be so credulous, complacent and disengaged from the process we should actually control.
We at The Swash Zone (among others) take advantage of the vast amount of information available to us and have come to question a lot of the nonsense and outright lies we're fed by the powers that be.
Pity more don't do the same.
A Bush tactic when faced with FOIA stuff or subpoenas was to dump thousands, miilions even, pages of documents into the laps of invesitgators.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this "dump" wasn't actually planned and not just leaked.
Obama seems to do everything for a political reason. Maybe he's hoping this will be a Pentagon Papers type event that will actually be heeded, giving him a convenient political excuse to get out of Afghanistan.
If this stuff comes from Obama's Administration the right wing pres would have a field day calling them traitors, etc.
The Administration can act properly outraged while investigators go through these papers finding Bush and Cheney's dirty little secrets.
I'm from Illinois just like Rahm and Obama. We can be a sneaky, dirty bunch when it comes to our politics. I wish Rahm would do so more often.