Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Promotion for loyalty
You say what Bush wants you to say to the public and you get a promotion. Article. That's how careers work in this administration. As long as you do what W. says, he will try to protect you and promote you where possible.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Advice of Acting Generals in Iraq
The advice of acting generals in Iraq, are often biased on several different factors.
1) They report to the Command In Chief of the Armed Forces, the President of the United States, and are strongly pressured to say what the Presidents wants them to say. Their advice, may or may not change, depending on who their boss, the current President is. Think about it, how often do you want to publicly say something publicly that is against your boss and undermines what he says?
2) Defense Contractors often slip money to military personnel to push things their way. I wouldn't be surprised if they slipped some money in an offshore unnamed bank account for Gen. Petraeus. There is no actual proof of this, just that this is the common way of doing business in Washington.
As a civilian, I worked under a retired two-star General for a Defense Contractor. This guy took credit for other people's work, and quick to blame others when things go wrong. He was totally self-serving. All the workers and managers around me was saying this. I was a little naive at the time and asked, "How did he get to be a two-star General, if he was such a user?" The response was, "How do you think?" And the retired Lieutenant Colonel acted more like a Sales Manager than anything else in the way he conducted himself. I think this is just the norm.
Of course, there are exceptions like Gen. Colin Powell, who are highly ethical and care about his troops and doing the right thing. A number of the other retired Generals, I think are good men, who spoke against the way Donald Rumsfeld was handling the war. There are good men in there, it's just they are the exceptions.
1) They report to the Command In Chief of the Armed Forces, the President of the United States, and are strongly pressured to say what the Presidents wants them to say. Their advice, may or may not change, depending on who their boss, the current President is. Think about it, how often do you want to publicly say something publicly that is against your boss and undermines what he says?
2) Defense Contractors often slip money to military personnel to push things their way. I wouldn't be surprised if they slipped some money in an offshore unnamed bank account for Gen. Petraeus. There is no actual proof of this, just that this is the common way of doing business in Washington.
As a civilian, I worked under a retired two-star General for a Defense Contractor. This guy took credit for other people's work, and quick to blame others when things go wrong. He was totally self-serving. All the workers and managers around me was saying this. I was a little naive at the time and asked, "How did he get to be a two-star General, if he was such a user?" The response was, "How do you think?" And the retired Lieutenant Colonel acted more like a Sales Manager than anything else in the way he conducted himself. I think this is just the norm.
Of course, there are exceptions like Gen. Colin Powell, who are highly ethical and care about his troops and doing the right thing. A number of the other retired Generals, I think are good men, who spoke against the way Donald Rumsfeld was handling the war. There are good men in there, it's just they are the exceptions.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Hillary: Voting for Experience
Well I guess according to Hillary, if we are going to vote for experience, we might as well vote for the person with the most experience in the White House .... Dick Cheney. Yup. That's right. He has more experiencing running things in the White House ... than anyone. That alone should make a good candidate, according to Hillary. And he has more experience than anyone dealing with negative publicity in the White House. All you Hillary supporters, based on your candidate's logic, or illogic, let's rally up support for Cheney.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
New British PM
Glowing comments about W. Bush. The new British PM is either a total idiot or a major ass-kisser planning to justify more wartime in Iraq. Why does God grant us imbeciles to run the country?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gen. Colin Powell's (retired) view on Iraq War
Article. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff (retired) and 4-star Gen. Colin Powell (retired) *does not* believe the U.S. can solve the Iraq War. Gen. Colin Powell was a key strategist to the Gulf War and its success and would know.
Interesting why John McCain pretends to think we can win this war if we just "stay the course". Are the same defense contractors who are paying Bush also making contributions to McCain's campaign?
I think Colin Powell should be President, but he is too legit to be nominated by either the Democratic or Republican Party. Something about the way the U.S. political process works that the good guys never get nominated.
Interesting why John McCain pretends to think we can win this war if we just "stay the course". Are the same defense contractors who are paying Bush also making contributions to McCain's campaign?
I think Colin Powell should be President, but he is too legit to be nominated by either the Democratic or Republican Party. Something about the way the U.S. political process works that the good guys never get nominated.
The Candidates
Looking at Hillary Clinton's website, other than ending the Iraq War and offering programs for alternative energy sources (which Obama also promotes), I don't see that she is going to do much of anything useful. Most of her plans are vague and undeveloped, mostly unresearched ideas filled with fantasy.
Barack Obama also wants to end the Iraq War and offer alternative energy programs, which is good. He believes in ethics and lobbying reform. You don't see much of a strategy or plan on ethics reform on Hillary Clinton's site. Or a single thing in her campaigning that would suggest she had ethics. I really don't think Hillary spends much time thinking of how to better this country but instead on how to better herself by becoming President. Between Hillary and Barack, Obama is the clear choice.
However I think John McCain has the good plan for America, other than continuing the Iraq War, if he actually plans to carry them out. He addresses some important issues facing this country though his stated plan for fixing things is like a band-aid and never addressing the real causes.
In the current situation, I would vote for Barack Obama, however if John McCain were to change his stance to ending the war, I would believe he would want to better the country instead of being another puppet for the neocons who now control the Republican party. It really hurts me to see American soldiers get killed needlessly in a war we cannot win, and that U.S. defense contractors are making a boatload of money in the process.
Barack Obama also wants to end the Iraq War and offer alternative energy programs, which is good. He believes in ethics and lobbying reform. You don't see much of a strategy or plan on ethics reform on Hillary Clinton's site. Or a single thing in her campaigning that would suggest she had ethics. I really don't think Hillary spends much time thinking of how to better this country but instead on how to better herself by becoming President. Between Hillary and Barack, Obama is the clear choice.
However I think John McCain has the good plan for America, other than continuing the Iraq War, if he actually plans to carry them out. He addresses some important issues facing this country though his stated plan for fixing things is like a band-aid and never addressing the real causes.
In the current situation, I would vote for Barack Obama, however if John McCain were to change his stance to ending the war, I would believe he would want to better the country instead of being another puppet for the neocons who now control the Republican party. It really hurts me to see American soldiers get killed needlessly in a war we cannot win, and that U.S. defense contractors are making a boatload of money in the process.
Sen. McCain
I watched Sen. McCain's talk today on his economic plan and say that I agree with what he says about cutting spending and corporate greed. I was a fan of Sen. McCain and Dole prior to the W. Bush administration. I might even be tempted to vote for Sen. McCain if it wasn't for his continuing to provide welfare to defense contractors. Unfortunately, one of the biggest spending costs of this nation is the Iraq War so I am not sure how much he can save on spending while still prolonging the Iraq War. I urge him to get with experts on counterinsurgency to give him the facts on the the likelihood of us ever winning the Iraq War. Most people in the military only understand conventional warfare so his knowledge of war and security is based on that. We are living in a period of unconventional warfare, because most countries do not have the manpower and technology to face the United States in open, conventional warfare. They will continue to fight for their country in ways they have a better chance of winning, and that is with unconventional warfare. While the Army Special Forces are experts at unconventional warfare at the small, tactical level. We sent so many Army Special Forces soldiers to Vietnam but still had no chance of winning. In fact, many of those soldiers lost their lives. They are not the cure all for all insurgency problems when other factors cannot be controlled. Sen. McCain needs to speak with counterinsurgency experts at the macro, or country level, to see what it would take to win this War and I tell you, it is no cake walk.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Being a General
I used to fantasize about being a 4-star General in the U.S. Army and all the things I could do for my country. I thought if I had stayed in, I could serve my country so well. Nowadays, I am a little bit smarter and realize that is a fantasy. You don't get to do what's right. You have to do what the President tells you to do, no matter how corrupt or dumb he is. It's not about doing the right thing. Unfortunately, those are the politics of Presidency and the U.S. military.
Are there military advisors who are experts at counterinsurgency? Yes. Are they being listened to? Obviously not. Just take a look at how things are being run in Iraq. Do the Generals know who to go to for advice? Probably. Would it change their handling of the war? Probably not. How do you get the job? By agreeing in private what the President asks. What if you do later do the right thing and ignore the President? You get replaced with a possibility of court-martial on false charges. There will be a list of corrupt people who never liked you falsely testifying against you with the promise of a promotion. Their dog tags will likely read one of the Christian denominations.
Are there military advisors who are experts at counterinsurgency? Yes. Are they being listened to? Obviously not. Just take a look at how things are being run in Iraq. Do the Generals know who to go to for advice? Probably. Would it change their handling of the war? Probably not. How do you get the job? By agreeing in private what the President asks. What if you do later do the right thing and ignore the President? You get replaced with a possibility of court-martial on false charges. There will be a list of corrupt people who never liked you falsely testifying against you with the promise of a promotion. Their dog tags will likely read one of the Christian denominations.
McCain
At least with McCain, we know two things:
1) the war will continue
2) gas prices will still be high. I don't see much of a push from him on reducing demand on oil, such as offering alternative energy programs
Unfortunately, some of us still have to drive to work. I would like to buy a vehicle on the market that uses less gasoline, if one exists, that has been mass produced so that I can get a warranty and get it fixed easily when there's a problem.
1) the war will continue
2) gas prices will still be high. I don't see much of a push from him on reducing demand on oil, such as offering alternative energy programs
Unfortunately, some of us still have to drive to work. I would like to buy a vehicle on the market that uses less gasoline, if one exists, that has been mass produced so that I can get a warranty and get it fixed easily when there's a problem.
War
Why continue a war we cannot win? Well the answer is obvious, friends of the President, the Defense Contractors continue to make money as long as the war continues. Who cares if American soldiers die right? As long as Bush and Friends' make their blood money. Why does McCain want to continue? Probably because he is getting money from unknown sources. Whatever it takes to get the political contributions to win the Presidency.
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