7 Years Later

Filed in National by on September 11, 2008

At this very moment, the attacks began.   I would like all of us to remember the sheer horror that day brought us.   A horror that made jumping to your death from a thousand feet above the best choice available.   Tears still come to my eyes whenever I see those towers burning.   Or when I think about United 93.   Or the Pentagon.

It is a sad anniversary of a tragic day.  

But what is even more sad…and tragic…is that this day will always be tainted with politics.  You see, I equate the attacks on September 11, 2001 with the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.   They are analagous as they both were acts of war, and they both shocked the psyche of a nation.  Yet, when I think of Pearl Harbor on December 7 of any year, I do not remember politics.   Sure, you remember President Roosevelt, and his speech declaring “this day will live in infamy.”   But you do not remember it in an adversial political sense.   Roosevelt was just an American, not a Democrat.

Indeed, President Bush could have achieved the same stature as Roosevelt.  He gave a great rallying cry on the rumble of the towers, when he said “I hear you, America hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon.”   Even I, a partisan Democrat, shouted “YES!” when he said that, because it was not a partisan moment then.  It was an American one.   Just as in 1941, Republicans rallied around a Democratic President. 

But now, I cannot think of the attacks of September 11 without thinking about how the Republican Party took political advantage of the attacks, about how they morphed Bin Laden’s face with that of Max Cleland’s, about they used the tragedy of September 11 along with lies about weapons of mass destruction  to invade a country that did not attack us that day, about how they called anyone who opposed this phantom war because they wanted to finish the job in Afghanistan (the country that really attacked us) a traitor, about how those who died that day have been used so cravenly by the Republican Party to justify anything they wanted to do, no matter how unconnected to the tragedy their goals were.   

My memories of September 11 should only include the events of that day, and I should only be honoring the victims.  But instead, due to the events of the last 7 years, I am forced to think about September 11 in political terms.   And for that, I will always hate any and all Republicans.   They have stolen something from me.  From all of us.   And I think that is the true tragedy of September 11.

Because, as horribly ironic as it is to say now, George W. Bush could have been a good if not great President.  He was presented with events that make Presidents great even when they are not.   He could have rallied this country.  He could have led us with a single purpose.   He could have stayed in Afghanistan for as long as it took to find Bin Laden.  And we would have found him.  We had him at Tora Bora.   We could have captured him, either dead or alive.  

And America would have had closure on the horrible events of this day.   But now, 7 years on, Bin Laden is free, and our memories of this day have been invaded by politics.

This will be the everlasting shame of the Republican Party. 

What is even more shameful though is the possibility that all those who died on this day have died in vein.  I hope we never reach that conclusion.  But with each passing year, it is becoming more probable.

 

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  1. Delaware Politics » Blog Archive » It’s Not Political? | September 11, 2008
  1. Geezer says:

    Afghanistan was not “the country that attacked us.” The Taliban provided material support to al Qaeda, but the country itself did not launch the attack.

  2. delawaredem says:

    The Taliban ran the government of Afghanistan. Just as the Nazis ran the government of Germany. Do we say we were at war with the Nazis or Germany during WWII? Or do we say both interchangeably?

  3. David says:

    You have a faulty view of history. FDR did use the attack to bludgeon his political adversaries in the Country and launch efforts to spy on German and Italian Americans while interning Japanese Americans.

    Cleland got in trouble because he put union politics above national security.

    Distort the present if you need to but let’s allow history to be.

  4. donviti says:

    you should turn off the comments like delawaretalkradio.com did last year….it is a way to put your fingers in your ears andsay lalalalalalalala i can’t hear you.

    great post by the way. I am sure fdr politicized, but the Gop has taken it to a new level

  5. Geezer says:

    But neither the Taliban nor the Afghanis were involved in the attacks. It was a commando operation, planned in Afghanistan, but not with or using the Afghanis. If Nazis plotted an operation in Switzerland (or if Lenin plotted there, to take a real scenario), it doesn’t make Switzerland guilty.

    Not that I minded attacking, but your statement was incorrect.

  6. Truth Teller says:

    Unlike bush FDR didn’t attack Iraq after December 7,1941. Or like Ronney who attacked a small island after 243 U.S. Marines were killed in Beirut in October 1983.

  7. rsmitty says:

    I will always hate any and all Republicans…

    Incredibly nice to know.

  8. anon says:

    FDR did use the attack to bludgeon his political adversaries in the Country and launch efforts to spy on German and Italian Americans while interning Japanese Americans.

    But Bush had plans for spying on Americns BEFORE 9/11. The attacks just gave him cover to accelerate the spying.

    Cleland got in trouble because he put union politics above national security.

    In trouble? IN TROUBLE? Fuck you.

  9. pandora says:

    And the politicizing began almost immediately with “Thank God George Bush is President instead of Al Gore” Republican meme.

    WTF???

  10. pandora says:

    David, are you actually justifying the political attacks against Max Cleland?

    Shame, shame on you.

  11. Rebecca says:

    Great post D.D. and don’t let the hair-splitting get to you. The main point is the neo-cons had an axe to grind and oil to capture in Iraq and Bush listened to them. He took his eye off the ball and took the nation into the quagmire of Iraq, ignoring the real problem. In order to do that his party has politicized an event in American history that should be treated with reverence and mourning. The fear and loathing that should have been directed at BinLaden were shamelessly and cynically diverted to Democrats. DD has it right.

  12. rsmitty says:

    I will always hate any and all Republicans…

    Here’s one republican’s take (mine), a comment I left on DWA. Hate away:

    As to remembering, I was working in Philly at the time. I was in a building at 6th and Market, across from the Federal Court House. We received word almost right away. Our thoughts connected this with what happened in Oklahoma City at their Federal building. Given the Federal Court House across the way, many of us became nervous. Almost right after the second plane hit, I don’t think anyone in my vicinity even thought about the previous connection. We were all stunned. Then word came to go home and be with our families. The “stun” started to yield to that reality of helplessness.

    In the meantime, I too, have a sibling (brother) that works very close to the WTC site, on Canal St (still does, actually). The inability to reach him was excruciating. Turns out, he had already taken that day off because his son had a doctor’s appointment. He would have been fine if he was at work, but still grateful. He lived in Jersey City at the time and had a view that went across the promenade there, looking directly to that area.

    No, I won’t forget, I will never, never forget. I also won’t forget what everyone else has noted, and that is the brotherhood so many exhibited over the following weeks and months. Incredible. My brother in NJ/NY even noted how peaceful it had become up there. Crime? Up there, it plummeted.

    Then, it got partisan. Yes, yes, yes, CheneyBush screwed it up. Then it got more partisan. Now, we still have yet to resolve what allowed 9/11 to happen, but then we also have our responsibility of the mess we created next door, over there.

    McCain or Obama, it doesn’t matter. Bin Laden is still somewhere, if alive, in Afghanastan or Pakistan and we can’t wish away what we’ve done in Iraq. Whomever gets into office has a tiring military to inherit and battlefronts where many of the international community no longer see the vision that got us there.

    9/11 is neither Republican, Democratic, or any polticial party. It is NOT political. It’s a point of time where the world finally came to us with a vengence that some still refuse to believe exists.

    I remember the thousands of innocent people dying that day. I remember the gaping hole of vulnerability devouring my soul (and others) that day. I remember watching the thousands fleeing Manhattan on foot, so many of them looking lost in their minds, maybe explaining the relative lack of panic within the exodus. I remember that it took a tragedy of enormous magnitude to bring a sense of resepect among our neighbors, both community and international, and wondering why so and why it evaporated.

    Finally, I remember that each time I see it used as political propoganda, or any propoganda for that matter, the feeling of wanting to puke invading my very being.

  13. mike w. says:

    While you chastise the Republican’s for politicizing 9/11 you have ironically done exactly that on this anniversary. You made this post about politics rather than remembering the tragedy and those lost.

  14. Phantom says:

    Geezer,
    The afghanistan government (for lack of a better term) run by the Taliban was harboring those responsible for the attacks. Therefore it is logical to consider themselves allied with the attackers, ie Japan and Italy in WWII. So our using that country for the focus of the attacks was more than justified.
    David,
    FDR did not politicize Pearl Harbor but instead used the entire WWII to boost his political ambitions. However, FDR also had his domestic policies of ending the great depression to provide him the political leverage rather than relying on his just his leadership after one event. Had Bush used 9/11 to win in Afghanistan and take Bin Laden then I think it might have been fair to use the ENTIRE war for political gain. However, the questioning of Cleland’s patriotism and status as an American who supports Bin Laden was extreme and to that extent the republican party has morphed into the republithug party. I agree with DD that due to this message spouted by BUSH and the republithugs that there is no forgiveness and shall live as part of this tragedy that it was exploited and used as a propaganda tool rather than as a rallying cry to achieve unity and move forward successfully.

  15. rsmitty says:

    I will always hate any and all Republicans…

    I hate intolerance.

  16. Phantom says:

    Mike,
    Chastizing the republithugs for thier past actions versus politicizing 9/11 are two different topics.
    This post admonishes the politicization of this tragic day and how it has been corrupted by republithugs to answer any and all challenges. Does this in any way mean that the actual event of 9/11 doesn’t generate sadness and remeberance of all the AMERICAN citizens that were lost, NO it does not. Instead it addresses how the actions after this horrible event have distorted the event itself into political theater.

  17. pandora says:

    Great post on DWA, Smitty.

    I don’t hate republicans, but I can’t stand some of them. The group that goes on and on about personal responsibility and then takes zero responsibility for Iraq, the mortgage crisis, outing a CIA agent, etc. springs to mind. To me it’s more about hypocrisy than anything else.

  18. anon says:

    9/11 is neither Republican, Democratic, or any polticial party. It is NOT political.

    smitty – you missed the point. It is the not 9/11 but the Republican manipulation of it that is political.

    Any Republican that stayed in the party and went along for the tax-cutting, crony contracts, civil-liberty destroying ride that resulted, cannot escape responsibility for the Republicans horrible abuse of this tragedy.

    It’s a point of time where the world finally came to us with a vengence that some still refuse to believe exists.

    See? There you go again.

    Any US president would have taken out the Taliban, but it took a Bush to botch it.

  19. Sharon says:

    It’s ironic, isn’t it? The events that make one hate the other side. The disgusting display by Al Gore and Democrats over the 2000 election made me decide I would never, ever vote for another Democrat. Now you admit that you”hate” Republicans. Well, I don’t hate Democrats. I just think their party is amoral and opportunistic, prone to identity politics and a bunch of crybabies who think the only reason to go to war is if there’s no national interest. See? I don’t hate Democrats for petty reasons, just as you aren’t hating Republicans because of your own blind partisanship!

    Oddly, when I think about 9/11, my first thought was, “This must’ve been how my parents felt when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.” And it explained for me why there were never enough bombs, planes, soldiers, etc., to make them feel secure again. It was why a strong defense was more important to them than any other single issue.

    So, I read your nasty little post about how those evil Republicans politicized 9/11, and I think to myself that it wasn’t many days after 9/11 that the first Truthers showed up claiming it was the government that blew up the towers. It wasn’t too long after 9/11 that idiots were talking about little Eichmanns and how we deserved it (those chickens coming home to roost). So, please. Spare me the fake outrage about politicization by Republicans. There was more than a little of that from liberals as well.

  20. anonone says:

    At the repub convention, they had a long video politicizing the deaths and carnage of 9/11. It was graphic and bloody. And after the video they all cheered wildly. ‘Nuff said.

  21. anon says:

    Spare me the fake outrage about politicization by Republicans. There was more than a little of that from liberals as well.

    Your examples of liberal politicization are drawn from wacky chain emails and fringe academics.

    My examples of Republican politicization are from Republican elected officials.

  22. cassandra m says:

    That day I was in my office,and had just started a meeting with some of my management and some folks from another firm that we were working with. Our guests had come in from Boston that AM. We had heard about the first plane on the radio and thought it was a small plane off course. A few minutes later the office manager told us it was way worse. Our visitors spent more than an hour trying to get through to wives to say they were OK. All of us raced off to find loved ones in NYC. A very good fried used to work in WTC7 and lived in Battery Park City. We found her at lunchtime in St. Louis, on a business trip. My own phone rang off of the hook — everyone knows I fly alot.

    The rest of the day my guests and management spent in front of out TV (that they went out to buy an antenna for). Not me, though, because it is very difficult for me to live with violent scenery and images. (I saw the famous footage once, unwittingly, in a movie.)

    I remember how traumatized we all felt. And I remember the most sensible thing I ever heard during that time was Talk of the Nation and the BBC which had gone international, after midnight, for a week or so — smart and compassionate people from all over the world called in to share their trauma, their support of us, and how to the US could join the other countries who were trying to push back on these terrorists. But George W Bush and his Republican enablers made sure that all of that goodwill got squandered in the service of trying to fulfull their own twisted ideologies. And Osama bin Laden is still out there, and terrorist activity (according the the yearly State Dept report) continues to increase.

    9/11 is neither Republican, Democratic, or any polticial party. It is NOT political. It’s a point of time where the world finally came to us with a vengeance that some still refuse to believe exists.

    I agree with rmitty on this, though. But I would note that while some (extremely few) would see Islamic extremists as not a threat, we certainly do not have a coherent or particularly effective policy to deal with this threat by this Administration.

  23. rsmitty says:

    …smitty – you missed the point.

    I wrote that a few days before I found out today that delawaredem stated I will always hate any and all Republicans…

    The dude’s an attorney, his oratory life is all about parsing words. There are no mistakes in his part there.

    I did not miss the point, either. When I say it’s not political, I mean there is no room in this tragedy to make it political. Sorry, cheerleaders may think DD kept this non-political, but please, hurt or not, this was political. I read his whole post, but sir-attorney’s I will always hate any and all Republicans… ensured its place.

  24. rsmitty says:

    anonone // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:32 am

    At the repub convention, they had a long video politicizing the deaths and carnage of 9/11. It was graphic and bloody. And after the video they all cheered wildly. ‘Nuff said.

    That is what inspired my two-consecutive comments on DWA the other day, one of which is pasted above in #12, there was no room for it.

  25. anon says:

    I put the flag out on my porch as soon as I saw the second plane hit.

    I left it there until Bush was re-elected.

    It will go up again when Obama is elected.

  26. Geezer says:

    “The disgusting display by Al Gore and Democrats over the 2000 election ”

    I see what you mean about different viewpoints. I only remember disgusting displays from Republican hired guns trucked in to “protest” the recount.

  27. cassandra m says:

    And a viewpoint that went right to “you’re just as bad” rather than just dealing with the post.

    At least we know what is important.

  28. rsmitty says:

    Geezer // Sep 11, 2008 at 10:04 am

    “The disgusting display by Al Gore and Democrats over the 2000 election ”

    I see what you mean about different viewpoints. I only remember disgusting displays from Republican hired guns trucked in to “protest” the recount.

    I remember voting Libertarian that year and looking at Bush and Gore wrestle over the results and thinking, “Good Lord, we’re fucked,” and I meant that for all of us. Actually, that was the second time I said that, the first is when Cheney was tabbed as Pre…VP.

  29. pandora says:

    Sharon is in serious spin mode. Her comparisons are ridiculous and she completely failed to address the point. And I can’t believe she missed a chance to blame Clinton.

  30. Joanne Christian says:

    DD- Revisionist history only packages nicely the realities of man’s inhumanity, by justifying or indicting whatever parties involved. Retrospection affords you the opportunity, and Great Britain should be grateful you view WWII the way you do.

    However, the war attributed to 9/11 was and is America’s war. The devastation we experienced as a country that horrific day, preferenced no race, gender, age, nor political party. We were targeted as Americans. As the months unfolded, I can with assurance tell you I sat very much alone w/ about three other people opposed going to war; in a crowd of 500. To me the toll in human life was not worth it….nor did I see the need to “blow their dirt to dust”. And that DD was the microcosm of the American spirit that day. People were amped and outraged to “show them”, whatever the cost. May I remind you that it was a “popular” move too–embraced by celebrities, from Jay Leno to Britney Spears. Now you may chuckle…but that is who America, sadly takes their cue. But America did go to war, much as Joanne said “Stop”, we don’t want to bite this off…..and President Bush himself from the get-go said this will be a LLLLOOOONNGGGG war, because it will be a war on terrorism. But America got “bored”, and things weren’t wrapped up in 6 months….and the sniping began….at home. More would come to light, and both sides politically would use this devisively to fracture us domestically. And it has. Because now….you hate any and all Republicans….and I send care packages to troops, and sort donations at a USO receiving site, because at the end of the day, my America has sent troops to war that America salivated to enter, and didn’t have the discipline to forego. And now, yes almost 7 years later, with all your retrospect you decry the idiocy of war and want the instancy of today’s generation to just stop. Well Bush never said it would be quick…and America still signed onto that, in their prideful arrogance of “besting” the enemy. My America, whether I wanted them to or not entered the war, and I will support those efforts as a responsible citizen. As an informed citizen, I have yet to meet an enlisted, guard-called-up, or active duty who has returned not feeling they were appreciated or made a difference over there. As an appreciative citizen, how acutely aware you have made me, that because of the liberties we enjoy on this soil…..you can spew your own war cry of “I will always hate any and all Republicans…..”. DD-this war will untangle, and we will bring the troops home….but we need to do this as Americans, not as a party–just like the way we got there.

  31. mike w. says:

    “This post admonishes the politicization of this tragic day and how it has been corrupted by republithugs to answer any and all challenges.”

    And in doing so DTB is politicizing the anniversary.

  32. rsmitty says:

    it was DD, not DV.

  33. mike w. says:

    “The dude’s an attorney, his oratory life is all about parsing words. There are no mistakes in his part there.”

    I thought so. In fact I think I saw DD’s name on the docket here at work just the other day. DD – Is your middle initial a K?

    -Oops, my mistake rsmitty.

  34. rsmitty says:

    DMUW/DTB/DHB/DV may have posts that drive people absolutely crazy and he may have hate in him (but to raise a point), but no one on this site has shown the stereotyping ability (in the past) or pure hatred (today) like DD has. It needed to be noted that it was not DV.

  35. anon says:

    I sat very much alone w/ about three other people opposed going to war; in a crowd of 500. To me the toll in human life was not worth it….

    You need to hang with a new crowd.

    My America, whether I wanted them to or not entered the war, and I will support those efforts as a responsible citizen.

    I do not see that as responsibility. We hanged people at Nuremberg for that belief system. But that was a different America back then.

  36. mike w. says:

    Well we expect that from DV/DTB/DBB as it’s just the way he is. I find it entertaining at times.

  37. cassandra m says:

    The problem with the so-called America’s War is that too many people forget that we went to Afghanistan FIRST and did not (and still have not) finish the job. We were supposed to be hunting down al Queda but also removing the Taliban who not only let al Queda set up their training camps there, but who would not deliver bin Laden and his cohorts when we demanded. Going to Afghanistan at least made sense, whether you agreed with it or not, and there were real goals to be accomplished there, ignored once BushCo started selling the Iraq fiasco.

    It is in the selling of the bogus Iraq business that you find the reasons why Americans started losing interest after 6 months or so. We were promised a short and sweet engagement in Iraq. We were promised to be welcomed as liberators. We were told we knew where the WMD were. We were told that the majority of troops would be home by Christmas. We were told that the Iraqis would be more than able to pay for their own reconstruction. We were told not to worry, go shopping. We were told that we would pay for all of this on credit. BushCo did not use his office to get us invested in a long or difficult struggle — they did their best to paint this as an easy and quick action that would transform the Middle East. And they personally attacked all voices that would disagree with them.

    So now Americans have a hard time paying attention. But we do know we were misled on this thing and we do know that it needs to end now and we do know that Middle East transformation cannot be had at the end of a gun.

  38. mike w. says:

    ” they did their best to paint this as an easy and quick action that would transform the Middle East.”

    And that was a gross miscalculation on the part of the Bush Administration. War is rarely quick and easy.

    Cass and I actually agree on something here – The war on terror will never be won at the barrel of a gun.

  39. Linoge says:

    Ahh… the beautiful hypocrisy of hate.

    Way to stay class folks, on this of all days. Way to stay classy.

  40. mike w. says:

    Yeah pretty much. Even today they can’t put aside their hatred and Bush-bashing.

  41. JadeGold says:

    Y’know, Linoge, you worry about being “classy” a bit too much.

    Let’s remember your hero, Geo W. Bush, had the support and goodwill of all Americans and quite literally the vast majority of the world on 11 Sep 20o1. With that support and goodwill, he could have really positively impacted world relations and events for the foreseeable future.

    But no. Instead, Bush Jr. decided he’d use this support as a club for partisan gain and to avenge Daddy, while enriching his buddies. Today, our national credibility (an important part of national security) is in tatters. Torture and murder was done in our names; the next time the US tries to criticize some tinpot dictator for human rights abuses, said despot can snicker at us. We now have fewer rights. And we now have a considerable number of Americans (GOPers) who believe bigotry and racism is actually admirable.

    Way to stay stupid, Linoge.

  42. mike w. says:

    “Way to stay stupid, Linoge.”

    And here folks is what an anti-gun liberal considers “class.”

  43. A. Bundy says:

    You are dead on, Linoge.

  44. Von Cracker says:

    You guys make it sound that there’s something wrong with anger.

    Anger is a catalyst for real change…or it could be the genesis of self-destruction. Like every emotion, it’s what you make of it that counts.

    The GOP used the emotion from 9/11 for political and economical gain.

  45. rsmitty says:

    There’s nothing wrong with controlled and constructive anger. It’s …I will always hate any and all Republicans… from a person whose career relies on parsing words that I have a problem with. Because of who and what he is (yes, I hold his word choices to a different standard, given his profession), I see that as literally speaking.

  46. anon says:

    See DD, if you had said “I hate gooks” instead, that would be okay.

  47. Von Cracker says:

    Maybe it’s the current incarnation of the GOP which he hates….and I’d have to agree.

    They really offer nothing except givebacks to friends and political allies.

    Very non-serious people, they are.

  48. rsmitty says:

    VC – I am totally considering the source, too, with what I am saying. In contrast, I absolutely see the points DV is making, and quite frankly, I agree with him. He and I talked about stuff like that, back when I tricked him into buying me coffee every so often. He drives people nuts with his presentation technique and saying what most, honestly, would rather forget or ignore. DD, on the otherhand, is a master (or careless user) of stereotypes (maybe for popularity???), and today, hatred.

  49. rsmitty says:

    anon- pick that fight with someone else, I personally don’t do that shit and some of the contributors here can back that up.

  50. pandora says:

    I will back that up. (even though I have to be nuts for getting into this)

  51. anon says:

    relax… I am not calling anybody racist, there is no need to mount a defense. (but I see I didn’t add enough context to my comment so I see how it was unclear).

    My point was that McCain made the exact same statement DD made, only with a different target. And McCain gets a pass. Because people understand different connotations of the word “hate.”

  52. rsmitty says:

    Look (and thank you Pandora), I am not disillusioned to think that there aren’t asshole Republicans. Oh hell no, there are problems within my party and ideologies some have. Guess what? Same with the Democratic Party. I certainly am not, though, going to use that as an excuse to hate any and all Democrats. That was a stupid and careless statement, that while I hope doesn’t represent who he is, came from a person whose livlihood is to be very careful about his own words, let alone parse the crap out of other peoples’ words.

  53. Von Cracker says:

    Wow, DV actually paid for something?!?

    New World Order!

    😉

  54. rsmitty says:

    Wow, DV actually paid for something?!?

    TWICE!

  55. Joanne Christian says:

    cassandra–you make some valid points in response to debt and reconstruction, but I still would argue Americans mistakenly assumed it would be another “Desert Storm”, and not the “Desert Season”, we ended up with. Bush was very clear it was not going to be a quick victory. Now that we are heading for a desert decade everyone is tired. Thank you for being so civil, on a topic so incinderary in our culture today.
    rsmitty–you are doing great…I defer to you!!!!

  56. rsmitty says:

    On what, taking on DD’s comment, or getting DV to pay for something twice? 😀

  57. JadeGold says:

    Mission Accomplished!

    Who said: “Now, I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. ”

    Or: “”It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”

    Or: “. I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months.”

    Or: “What you’d like to do is have it be a short, short conflict. . . . Iraq is much weaker than they were back in the ’90s,” when its forces were routed from Kuwait.”

  58. JadeGold says:

    Cakewalk!

    Iraq will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder!

  59. anon says:

    Bush was very clear it was not going to be a quick victory.

    Good Lord, is that really the way you remember it? Bush’s men told us “weeks, not months.”

    Now that we are heading for a desert decade

    You make it sound like some natural phenomenon, like weather. Where is the accountability for those who created the desert?

    I don’t think a desert is inevitable. We still have some choices left to prevent it. Let’s start by kicking out the crew who got us here.

  60. pandora says:

    The idea that this war was presented as anything but a quick victory is well… wrong. In fact, those of us who questioned the Administration’s easy-peasy view of a hornet’s nest were accused of aiding and abetting the enemy. Let’s not rewrite history.

  61. cassandra m says:

    Donald Rumsfeld at a Townhall Meeting in Feb 2003: And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

    Rumsfeld on the radio November 2002: “The idea that it’s going to be a long, long, long battle of some kind I think is belied by the fact of what happened in 1990,”…”Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that,” he said. “It won’t be a World War III.”

    This is typical of what Bush, Rumsfeld and his Deputy were saying in the runup to Iraq. They frequently invoked Desert Storm as the model for why this thing would not take too long. And remember in the winter of 04 when the a shortage of equipment became a scandal? Why do you think that was? What happens when you plan only goes out 6 to eight months only?

    Then there is, of course, Mission Accomplished.

    These guys always talk about this Global War on Terror as a generational fight, but they always sold Iraq as a short and sweet event. The shame of it is that the only way to keep justifying staying in Iraq even after they screwed the pooch was to make that fight the Global War on Terror, which Iraq never was and still isn’t. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (for intellectual and financial support) clearly are, though.

  62. anon says:

    he only way to keep justifying staying in Iraq even after they screwed the pooch was to make that fight the Global War on Terror

    Once again, Cassandra brings it home…

  63. cassandra m says:

    Is anyone listening the Fresh Air now? Andrew Bacevich is on talking about the Global War on Terror and current inadequacy of current policy to sustain its stated goal over the long haul. What I’ve heard of it is thoughtful and straightforward — you can get this as a podcast from iTunes later today or tomorrow or you can listen to it hen it is rebroadcast at 7PM.

  64. miscreant says:

    “I put the flag out on my porch as soon as I saw the second plane hit.
    I left it there until Bush was re-elected.
    It will go up again when Obama is elected.”

    You’ve been politically impotent for years, and Obama is your Viagra?

  65. anon says:

    Good Americans everywhere are outraged that you are comparing the flag of our nation with a dick. You must apologize and recant your statement immediately, and even then I will continue to impugn your patriotism.

  66. mike w. says:

    Why am I not surprised that the DL liberal folks have politicized 9/11?