A Community of Rats

Sisyphus has been wading in the wait of discovery of the great argument of our time.

We have the debate that Jack Murtha opened up just before the holiday. We have Georgie boy who is trying to retool his image. And the fence sitters are waiting to see where which way the wind is going to blow.

I’ve scanned through most of my usual haunts. I have tried some new ones. It seems that no one is really sure what is going to happen next. The powers that be feel they can shame the disgruntled into not getting too excited about what happens in Iraq. The straw men are out there, wanting to blow up our TiVos with our remote controls. And don’t forget about those killer M & M’s…

In the mix of the posturing, we have scandals galore in the free market. Congressmen crying, Supreme Court nominees back peddling and folks editorializing about unnamed sources; what could be next?

I went to a speech the other day by Retired General Barry McCaffrey. It was a great honor for me to meet him. (I also met John Glenn, a man from outer space, I felt like I was nine years old.) I have watched McCaffrey on television for many years and he is pretty no nonsense. He revealed something that I find astonishing in many ways. This was also backed up today by Murtha and the Commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard, but we don’t seem to have anyone else in the Reserves to continue to fight the battles that lay ahead in Afghanistan and Iraq. At some point during the summer, we will be using active duty personnel. This would significantly strain a thin force. It does signify that something drastic is going to have to take place to achieve a victorious appearance in this battle of ideals.

A draw down is inevitable.

There have been reports that the Armed Forces Commanders are working up plans for a draw down this summer. This coincides with the mid term elections. To say the least, there must be a lot of frightened cats up there in the halls of congress.

The consistent cry is What’s the Plan? You gotta have a plan! Wars generally have a habit of foundering into chaos without one. Not that we haven’t lost control of the situation or anything. We still maintain that relatively. But what could possibly be militarily viable at this point?

I see no reasonable problem with redeployment. I have thought this for a long time. We contained Iraq for ten years covering the air space and blowing out suspect sights. We no longer have to concern ourselves with Saddam. We could even get some of these bad guys to stick their necks out. This will play out in time. It will be curious to see the new mobilizations. I hope to have a more educated opinion on this sooner rather than later.

Credibility, Accountability and Reliability

I found this lead to be mind blowing.

“By Kathleen T. Rhem

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005  - The decision by U.S.

soldiers to burn the

bodies of two enemy Afghan fighters was an act of

poor judgment,

but not a violation of the laws of war, U.S.

officials have determined.

Officials also determined that using the act to

incite Taliban fighters

by announcing it over psychological operations

loudspeakers was a

separate act. In all, four soldiers have

received administrative

punishment in the two incidents.”

I found it ironic that after we declared Victory in Iraq two years ago, we publish a document called Strategy for Victory In Iraq. (whitehouse.gov if you want it).

This link is one of my favorite articles I have found. It’s the cure for American Cancer.

I have a review of the latest spin from Slate and the Village Voice.

Dan Froomkin has a good blog on Fact-Checking the President.

One other note that I think that is serious and is still in the gee whiz phase of things is the mounting articles of the bubble that the President is hiding in. There have been plenty of articles lately how Bush will only use the military as a back drop for good press. It seems impossible for him to be able to spend time with the American public, much less care what they are thinking.

Isn’t RSS the greatest thing?