Posted on 06/04/2006 6:30:26 AM PDT by TSchmereL
The administration has a stake in convincing the public that what happened in Haditha was an isolated incident and that it does not reflect a broader message about a war gone bad—or a war that should never have been waged in the first place.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Eleanor begins by stating that when "Karen Hughes returned to Washington last August to head the State Department’s public-diplomacy effort . . . America’s standing in the world was at a low point."
I will not dwell on what a disappointment Karen Hughes is other than to point out that her "Listening Tour" to win the hearts and minds of Muslims the world over was clearly misguided and a failure. Here is an example of the fruits of her weakness.
I will dwell on what Eleanor defines as our "standing" in the world. Eleanor apparently confuses "standing" with popularity. Liberals want us to be popular. Conservatives want us to be feared and taken seriously. We could be very popular by being the worlds cheapest whore. But if we want to be feared and taken seriously, we don't play games with pimps like Saddam Hussein and the "Johns" who wanted to keep him in power. I don't want to be popular with those people.
Eleanor Clift next claims that "The administration has a stake in convincing the public that what happened in Haditha was an isolated incident . . . ." Eleanor's inference is clear: What happened in Haditha was not an isolated incident. The Bush Administration is not really interested in finding out the truth about what happened and punishing wrongdoers. The Bush Administration is only interested in fooling the public into believing the incident was unusual.
The broader message, according to Eleanor, is "about a war gone bad—or a war that should never have been waged in the first place."
For Eleanor, if some Marines are actually indicted, it "makes it harder to look at this war as a moral enterprise." Never mind that it is by definition a "moral enterprise" to identify and bring to justice those who do bad things, whether they are rogue marines or evil dictators. That is our enterprise and it is based on morality.
Eleanor enjoys more wishful thinking when she adds "if it is found that there was complicity within the Marine Corps."
Next Eleanor Clift claims: "The American people have already decided we’re not any safer because we're in Iraq and that the war is more of a humanitarian gesture to help the Iraqi people."
I would remind Eleanor that we aren't finished. If Eleanor is still available when we are, I will listen to her report the final decision of the American people.
Eleanor suggests that it "looks like we’re creating more misery than we’re alleviating." Eleanor does not identify who is to blame for this perception. But don't count on her to remind you that Saddam Hussein is directly responsible for the murder of more than 300,000 men, women, and children of Iraq. Civilian casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom are at most 42, 434 and that includes civilian deaths caused by coalition military action and by military or paramilitary responses to the coalition presence (e.g. insurgent and terrorist attacks) and excess civilian deaths caused by criminal action resulting from the breakdown in law and order which followed the coalition invasion.
Eleanor Clift thinks we need "pressure to mount to bring this madness to an end."
Eleanor Clift next says that "When a government takes a country into war, everybody should be forewarned that war is not a glorious little romp—a cakewalk—that terrible things will happen to innocent people. The Bush administration failed us on that count."
This is just a lie. I don't have the time to link and quote all the statements President Bush made which prove that he knew that this war would not be a "cakewalk" and that "terrible things will happen to innocent people."
The next lie is that "Iraq was not a war of necessity."
It is precisely because our nation is partially controlled by morons like Eleanor Clift that Iraq was a war of necessity. It was a war of necessity because most of the UN sanctions project was such a fraud it benefited only Saddam Hussein and the people with whom Eleanor Clift wants us to be more popular. It was a war of necessity because all UN sanctions against Saddam Hessein's regime was soon to be lifted so we would be more popular with people like Eleanor Clift. Saddam Hussein would have remained in power and he, or his evil progeny, would have been free to resume their WMDs programs.
The next lie is that "it was a war of choice, entered into with a willful disregard for the consequences."
I could continue to analyze Eleanor Clift's column, but it is too nauseating.
I will end by merely pointing to the political hypocrisy of suggesting the possibility that "the [Buh] administration bears some blame in overstressing the troops" and yet remembering how "nobody blamed President Lyndon Johnson or Defense Secretary Robert McNamara for ordering Calley to murder people at My Lai."
From now until November the programming of the MSM will be "All Hidatha, All the Time".
Probably the left's biggest mistake, the American people generally will react by supporting the troops. Especially IF the Bush administration will come out enthusiastically for the troops.
Does anyone know if Eleanor Clifft and Helen Thomas are twins separated at birth?
I am sick and tired of hate America leftists like Eleanor Clift rubbing their hands in glee over incident like this in Iraq. Furthermore, these marines have not been convicted of anything yet, and I believe they are totally innocent.
This story has more holes than Swiss Cheese.
The reporter is suspect.
The Doctor who filed the Death Certificates is suspect.
Now we find we can't exhume the bodies because of Muslim custom.
The whole thing stinks.
MSM:
Saddam was elected with a vote of 99.9%!
The military is guilty!
Typical.
I'd like to say something nice about Eleanor Clift......I'd like to really, but nothing comes to mind.
But this is a wonderful development for the liberal Democrats. If public opininion changes, they can go back to calling our troops "babykillers" without fear of losing votes!!!
No more phony "We Support The Troops Too, Really We Do, You Gotta Believe Us" crap.
All of a sudden there's an announcement, Eleanor has to leave for a family emergency.
It will. Newspapers are loosing money and readers. Newsweak too.
Eleanor Clift is not just a little but stupid. She's powerfully inane.
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