Grandmère Mimi alerted me today to General Ricardo Sanchez's comments in the New York Times about a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” in Iraq. Well big effing "duh!"
General Sanchez said he was convinced that the American effort in Iraq was failing the day after he took command, in June 2003. Asked why he waited until nearly a year after his retirement to voice his concerns publicly, he responded that it was not the place of active-duty officers to challenge lawful orders from the civilian authorities.
Excuse me. Invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation that has neither attacked us nor poses any immediate threat to us constitutes a violation of international and U.S. law. It is what we quaintly call "a war crime." Just because [expletive deleted] was recognized as President by the Supreme Court does not make anything he orders lawful. The Nixon asssetion that whatever the President does is thereby lawful just doesn't pass muster. Didn't then. Doesn't now.
I share Grandmère's outrage that people who knew this from the beginning did not speak up when it might have made a difference. For all who have since perished or been injured, maimed, displaced, or dispossessed since then it is now too late. And we are having one devil of a time trying to even have a discussion of extrication, much less any action toward the same.
“There has been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”
A lust for power. That, and delusions of glory, hoping to "bring" (how patronizing) democracy to the benighted folks in other lands. Or worse, insane delusions about triggering Armageddon so Jesus will come. Oh yes, they are that crazy, and that religious fringe has deliberately made huge inroads in our military.
Vanity of vanity, all is vanity, saith the preacher.
It has happened before.Democracy is not a spectator sport. We all have an obligation to inform ourselves and take action so that those we elect remember why we elected them.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.
And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened
and paid the singers well
and felt good about it all,
there were rats and lizards who listened
… and the only listeners left now
… are … the rats … and the lizards.
From Carl Sandburg, Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind (1922)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.You will note the pointed absence of references to empire building in the Preamble.
--the BB
Update: John Bruhns, Iraq vet, has his own comments on General Sanchez's words at Americablog.
2 comments:
Paul, I like your post better than mine. Excellent.
By the way, that "We the People...." document no longer applies.
Ah, Grandmère, I rather preferred yours (but I couldn't remain silent).
And here is where I am a die-hard curmudgeon: The Constitution of the United States bloody well remains the law of the land, even if flouted, violated, trashed, shredded, and generally ignored. Rout the bastards and restore America!
In the donjeon of Aigues-Mortes in southern France one can still see carved in the stone the word "resistez" evidently dug into the rock by a Huguenot prisoner centuries ago.
Aux murs les Bush! Vive la résistance!
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