Posted on 09/01/2006 10:41:50 AM PDT by meandog
Good job! Below I'm pasting his response to me. I think I got to him just a little :)
and you, sir, speak mighty rudely to someone you don't know and have never met. i could be 6 foot 7 280 lbs and ready to stomp a hole in your sorry rightwing ass.
good for you that i am not, and will not. but i am tempted at times by the ravings of idiots.
just try keeping a civil tongue in your head.l
if you don't like what i write please feel free not to read it. all the time.
best wishes
joe galloway
There are some like Michael Moore who have so much as stated that they hope large numbers of body bags come home from Iraq so that the public will turn on President Bush. I've heard this same rhetoric from other lunatic leftys as well. How sick is it to want young soldiers to die just to "get even" with one man.
I believe you're right.
One wonders if the war is real to them or just another TV show.
Below is Mr. Galloway's response to my first email. Please note his writing style:
From: Jlgalloway2@cs.com
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 16:34:02 -0400
Subject: Re: A change in Iraq war plans
To: richardpinnell57@hotmail.com
mr pinnell:
are you an expert on counter-insurgency warfare? neither am i, but i have listened to a lot of smart military guys talk about it and have read their writings. they all pretty much agree that they way we are doing it right now, and have been doing it for the last three and a half years, is NOT the right way.
what we are doing is playing the patsy in what they call asymetric warfare. we ride along in our Abrams tanks and Bradleys and Humvees with armor and they blow up our soldiers and Marines with homemade artillery shell bombs triggered by cellphones or garage door openers. and tomorrow we do it all over again. and the next day. and they win and we lose our precious soldiers, day after day.
maybe we are past the point where proper tactics and stragegy would make a difference in iraq. right now we are succeeding so well that your average iraqi is storming the Passport Office buying and begging for a document that will let him leave the slaughter house. If they all leave can we declare victory then, and bring our troops home? If no one is left but us and the bad guys??
you are quick to label me and you don't know one damn thing about me. i have spent 41 years covering Americans at war, from April of 1965 in the first of my four tours in Vietnam, to January of 2006 in Iraq. i am the only civilian the u.s. army ever decorated with the Bronze Star with V for valorous action in combat--to wit, rescuing wounded soldiers under heavy enemy fire.
so please don't presume to read my heart from having read one of the 173 columns i have written since april of 2003. i am not a liberal. never voted for a democrat in my life---except 2004 when i wrote in harry truman because even dead he was a better president than either of the choices i was offered on the ballot.
i wish only the very best for our troops in harm's way. i know from firsthand that they are the only glue holding this misbegotten mission together. my anger is reserved for those chickenhawk civilians at the top in DC who got us into this pickle.
i hope your son comes home safe and well. i wish you the very best.
Here is my reply back:
First, let me respond with my name. It is Mr. Pinnell, not mr. pinnell. For a journalist, you seem to have forgotten that appropriate punctuation is necessary, and respectful, in correspondence. Second, as you point out, you are not an expert on counter-insurgency warfare. Neither are you a part of the decision making process in what happens in Iraq on a minute-by-minute or day-by-day basis. You and I do not know how decisions are made based on intelligence neither of us are privy to. For you to write on your assumptions of what is happening and then make the lame suggestion of placing this problem in the hands of "cops" is totally ridicules, regardless of how much experience you have in covering wars. You are not a War expert, sir. I also noticed that you completely ignored the point of my letter to you, and focused on just how much of an expert you are (are not) to make your silly comments. You have also left out of your hit piece all of the positive gains that have been made in Iraq. This has been typical of the liberal media in this country. Most of American are not getting the whole story of what our troops and the brave contractors are accomplishing over there because good news does not help the Ill-Liberals trying to regain their petty political power at the expense of our soldiers lives. Whether you have voted for a "liberal in your life" or not, you are now helping their cause in pulling down this President for nothing more than their hatred against him. Is President Bush a perfect human being? Of course not. Have mistakes been made during this war? Look at the history of war, sir. It is replete with mistakes from time immemorial. Judging the final chapter of a war (of which has not yet been written) by complaining about mistakes just makes no sense to me whatsoever.
If you truly wish the very best for my son and the other troops fighting for what they know is right, then you should also cover in your articles the good that they are doing over there on a daily basis. You should write about how much progress the contractors have made throughout much of the country. You have NOT provided a BALANCED view to your readership. In that you have played into the hands of the Ill-Liberals at the very least. Oh, and I don't consider stopping Saddam and his evil sons, and that dictatorial regime from continuing to kill innocent Iraqi civilians (400,000+ over 12 years) a misbegotten mission. What, the 12,000 deaths in Bosnia deserved our attention, but the Iraqi's do not? You should check your morals. And don't use the lame argument that there are other countries committing atrocities against civilians too. Iraq had lost a war in 1991 and was bound by the tenants of the agreements made at the close of the military action at that time. They did not comply with any of the 17 U.N. resolutions, and continued to harass Coalition jets in the no-fly-zone over that 12 year period. Those are acts of war against our military, of which went unanswered by Clinton and the U. N. for eight years.
Finally, your comment regarding your write in candidate for President in 2004 belies who you really are. Stop trying to lie about your political ideology. Either take a stand for what you believe in or shut up. But don't pretend to be something you are not.
Sincerely,
Richard Pinnell
Proud Father of an
American Hero
The war isn't real to them because the whole of the country is not making sacrifices to win this war.
Why does he think we are in a hole? I have to conclude he is simply ignoring what we are doing ...
"What's needed, and has been desperately needed since the summer of 2003, is a strong counter-insurgency program. And a viable counter-insurgency campaign is police work, not the work of regular Army and Marine troops with Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, artillery and air strikes."
Brilliant idea... Sounds excalty like Operation Forward Together, which is going on right now.
Yours was a very good letter. Here is Mr. Galloway's second response after I responded to his first one. I replaced the 2 letters in his "f" word with asterisks so as to comply with FR policy. I think I really got to this jerk.
"feel free not to read that which upsets your assumptions, reasoned or otherwise. and you can also feel free to go f**k yourself and the horse you rode in on.....life is too short to talk to idiots."
adios
This guy is all wet.
Where is his plan? What is his plan? Did anyone see anything approaching a plan in his article?
Pres. Bush's plan is "cordon, capture, control." It works one block at a time in cities, and one city at a time throughout IRaq.
It is logical, methodical, and working.
You cut off the area in question (cordon); you clear it of enemy house to house (capture); you hand off to a trained Iraqi military force (control).
Then you go on to the next block.
The only piece lacking in Pres. Bush's plan is an overt engagement with Iran and Syria who are providing not-so-clandestine support to our enemies within Iraq.
A take-down of the Iranian government is in order for a number of reasons.
"But people are getting tired and restelss about the whole endeavor."
The only people "getting tired" about it are the idiots dumb enough to believe the driveby media and the wimps who are politically motivated (don't want Bush to reap the political benefits of a military victory).
"mistakes are a result of us not anticipating the level of evil"
this is not a question of "evil"
The US is fighting Iran in Iraq. Iran has declared war on the US in Iraq. Deal with it and make Iran pay.
If they will not it is a complete waste of time and humans to fight the "insurgency", which will continue another 20 years.
I think you are misunderstanding. I'll ignore for now your assumptions as to what I think, and discuss your statement "Military are trained to kill the enemy before they kill us."
I agree that's what the military are, on the whole, trained to do, and am questioning whether that means they are also less trained than they might be at counterinsurgency.
If you look at my original post, I gave three possibilities: police with military weapons, military that have more training in thinking like police, or more Special Forces. I didn't see anywhere that I suggested bringing back Saddam. Like it or not, this isn't a situation for "kill them all," it's a situation for getting the majority of Iraqis to have confidence in us.
"The US is fighting Iran in Iraq. Iran has declared war on the US in Iraq. Deal with it and make Iran pay.
If they will not it is a complete waste of time and humans to fight the "insurgency", which will continue another 20 years."
Finally. We are fighting the greater Iran. Many places are much more ungovernable than others, and Iraq is one of them. I'm sick of seeing friends come home from Iraq complaining that they'd see one of their comrades die and then have to fight less than 100%. If America and Israel wanted to, they could neutralize much of the middle east and play the extortionist oil barons off against each other. It will take overwhelming force soon enough, so what are we waiting for? The loss of political capital stems not from the mistakes but from bolviating about democracy. Fight the war to win, which means going after Syria and Iran. No one respects a weak giant, and no one likes us no matter what we do. We need Iraq for the bases through which to go after Syria and Iran. We must earn the respect of the population by being absolutely omnipotent and ruthless if need be. Rumsfeld is orchestrating a politically correct war end of story, and the right should stop putting the blame on the left or the media for that, because what distinguishes us from the Left is our willingness to take personal responsibility for our mistakes - cuz their are mistakes in all wars, as was correctly pointed out - instead of blaming others.
Well, mr. galloway responded again. Here below is how he deals with debate from those that don't agree with him:
mr. pinnell:
is the below some of the great news you are talking about in iraq?
Pentagon Releases Grim Report on Iraq
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 — Iraqi casualties soared by more than 50 percent during the roughly three-month period ending in early August, the product of spiraling sectarian clashes and a Sunni-based insurgency that remains “potent and viable,” the Pentagon noted today in an comprehensive assessment of security in Iraq.
In a grim 63-page report, the Pentagon chronicled bad news on a variety of fronts. One telling indicator was the number of weekly attacks, which reached an all-time high in July.
The American-led coalition suffered the brunt of the attacks, but an increasing number are being directed against civilians. In Baghdad, for example, civilian targets accounted for 22 percent of all the attacks, up from 15 percent in April. And the attacks on Iraqi troops and civilians caused many more deaths than did those on American troops.
“Death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife, with Sunni and Shia extremists each portraying themselves as the defenders of their respective sectarian groups,” the report noted. “The Sunni Arab insurgence remains potent and viable.”
The Pentagon report on “Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq” is mandated by Congress and issued quarterly. It covers a broad range of subjects, ranging from the economy to public attitudes to the training of Iraqi security forces.
This time, the study has been the focus of special interest because of increasing fears that Iraq is sliding into civil war. And its grimmer notes, echoing recent Congressional testimony by military commanders, come at a time when President Bush and members of his cabinet have been trying to present a strong case in support of the war, in the face of vehement criticism from Democrats.
Addressing that scenario, the report notes: “Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq, especially in and around Baghdad, and concern about civil war within the Iraqi population has increased in recent months.”
As a consequence of the rising violence, the number of Iraqi casualties — civilian and well as military — has jumped to almost 120 a day. Further, the confidence of Iraqis in the future has diminished, according to public opinion surveys cited in the Pentagon report. Still, the study asserts that the fighting in Iraq does not meet the “strict” legal definition of a civil war.
The assessment provides bad news on a variety of fronts.
It said that Al Qaeda is active despite the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, because of the group’s “cellular structure,” that the Sunni insurgency is strong and that militias are undiminished.
The Pentagon distributed the report on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, a common time for government officials to put out bad news. A Pentagon officials denied that this was the intent and said the report was issued when it completed.
And here again is my reply. I provide this because I am no longer willing to sit quietly by and allow these people to continue their lies to the American people:
Yes, j. Please just pretend that nothing is being accomplished by our service men and women and the contractors who are risking their lives each day. I watched a report the other day given by the U.S. Commander of the Corp of Engineers. He not only talked about the great gains that are being made each day, but took the camera crew on a tour to show the actual construction that has been completed and is underway. But, hey since that information doesn't fit your view point in this war, it obviously is not worthy of being reported. Yes, there is much that is gloomy that can be reported. If all you want to do is attack the administration, there is plenty that you can report. But, as I said before, if your desire is to provide a balanced view of what is taking place, then you have a responsibility to show the accomplishments as well as what is wrong.
And, yes j. Let's do CUT-AND-RUN from Iraq. We should allow the Islamo-facists to gain complete control over the country and the good people of Iraq. Perhaps another 400,000 or more can be discovered, in some future incursion, having been buried, many alive. Let's allow Iran to gain control over the region and begin to engage in ethnic cleansing on a scale that would make the Jewish Holocaust look pale in comparison. Let's allow Iran to use the resources of the entire region to assist them in their desire for global conquest and the annihilation of the State of Israel. Perhaps the Iraqi friends I made in college, who lost family members through Saddam's brutal reign of murder, would greatly appreciate your position on CUTTING-AND-RUNNING to leave them to deal with the new terrorists that will replace Saddam. And perhaps, as you drive around in whatever type of vehicle you drive, paying $8.00 per gallon gasoline due to allowing Iran to have control over the entire Middle East, you can reflect on the role you have played to help bring this things to fruition.
You know, j, you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. I WON'T ALLOW THAT ANYMORE. I will challenge people like you at every turn. I will use whatever means available to me to get my message out so that people can have an alternative viewpoint instead of the one they are force fed by idiots like you. I'm tire of putting up with people who don't have the sense God gave a slug to know when to come in from the rain, and to know when it is time to stand up against the evil of the world. You have become a "tool" of the liberals in this country who want to see this country fail just so that this President fails. You people are sick and in need of therapy.
Oh, and by the way. If we had ?journalist? like you during WWI and WWII, we would definitely have lost those wars. All the putrid slime that you and your ilk have written and postulated since President Bush was inaugurated, if it had existed during those world wars, would have turned the American Public against those wars just as you are attempting to do today. If my son dies in this war I will hold you and people like you personally responsible for the aid and comfort you have provided to our enemies. Sleep well, j. The day will come when you must pay your atonement for your lies, slander, and innuendo against this great nation.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Excellent reply.
1. The generals in question have said that Iraq is NOT a civil war. This was prominent in the news about 2 weeks ago.
2. The deaths taking place are among the Iraqis. We have armed terrorists killing unsuspecting, non-combatant civilians.
3. Areas of unrest are being brought under control.
Galloway is frequently the media conduit of choice for embittered Army traditionalists (for lack of a better phrase) to express their disdain of Rumsfeld and his efforts to transform and modernize the Army. Rumsfeld and President Bush are consistent objects of ridicule and scorn in Galloway's work. They are rarely presented as serious men with informed and credible points of view. The controlling theme is generally that they are ignorant, bumbling, stubborn and dictatorial leaders whose ideas are worthy of little more than dismissive mockery from "real" military leaders.
Here's just one example, from back in Sept. '03, in an article entitled How to Ruin a Great Army? See Donald Rumsfeld Galloway wrote:
"In just over three years, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and his civilian aides have done just about everything they could to destroy that Army."
And that's the nice part.
Reader beware. Google around for yourselves and decide if Galloway's body of work represents reasoned and fair-minded analysis and criticism.
Oh, I don't think that piece is lacking in Dubya's plan at all. He didn't make that "Axis of Evil" comment nearly four years ago for no reason.
Working out the "How?" and "When?" is another story, for minds much better than mine.
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