See, here's the problem -- Reid basically called Gen. Peter Pace, who hasn't been renominated to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an incompetent. Yeah, that's outrageous. The right likes to make a big deal out of the fact that we now have the most powerful military in history, but doesn't mention that we can't even seem to handle a bunch of yahoos with improvized weapons and no actual army. Yeah, he's doing an excellent job. That's why he wasn't renominated -- because he deserves to retire after doing such a wonderful job. The Iraq war, like every undertaking by the Bush administration, has been characterized by unimpeachable competence.
Here's the paragraph that began this round of 'shoot the stater of the obvious':
Politico:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.
The fact is that Reid is being incredibly generous here. If we look at Pace's assessment of Iraq today, a more accurate description might be 'insane,' 'delusional,' or 'a lying sack.'
USA Today:
When Gen. David Petraeus drives through the streets of Iraq's capital, he sees "astonishing signs of normalcy" in half, perhaps two-thirds of Baghdad.
"I'm talking about professional soccer leagues with real grass field stadiums, several amusement parks -- big ones, markets that are very vibrant," says Petraeus, commander of the roughly 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The scenes provide a sign that the new strategy in Iraq is working, although many problems remain, he told USA TODAY in an interview Wednesday.
Somewhat truer was a statement he made on CNN recently, saying that "what is taking place in Anbar is almost breathtaking." If you've ever been close to a large explosion, you'll know it knocks the wind out of you. So, yeah, it's breathtaking.
If Pace really believes that Iraq's Disneyland, it doesn't sound like he really has a handle on reality.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful John McCain piled on Reid. In a statement, he said, "It's incredibly disappointing that Harry Reid would make such disparaging remarks about both the highest ranking officer in the U.S military and the commander of our troops in Iraq. Generals Pace and Petraeus are two leaders who have spent their entire lives in service to their country and Senator Reid needs to clarify his criticisms, which can only be described as highly inappropriate and regrettable."
Of course, this is because McCain's been on a BS campaign of his own. In order to prove how safe Iraq was, he toured a market -- along with 100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, two Apache gunships, and a suit of armor. An NBC correspondent to Iraq said that, with McCain's protection, 'even Paris Hilton could ride a bicycle in a bikini through Anbar province.' Later, there was a massacre on the very street he toured -- insurgents wanted to prove McCain wrong and succeeded. All McCain wound up proving was that Iraq was so unsafe that even propaganda photo-ops have death tolls.
This is what's 'highly inappropriate and regrettable' -- this constant marketing of Iraq as family vacation spot. It's that all of these people think you and I are dumbasses who'll believe anything.
I suppose it shouldn't surprise anyone that a war begun on lies constinues to be supported by lies. There wasn't any good reason for us to go there and -- as logic, common sense, and sanity would have it -- there isn't any good reason to stay there. If the only way they can justify our presence there is with lies and propaganda, then our presence there can't be justified in any logical sense.
Attacking Harry Reid is only another tactic in a campaign of lies. Reid is right, Pace is incompetent -- at best. So is McCain and pretty much anyone who still thinks the occupation is a good idea. My reasoning here is very simple -- they can't recognize that, by lying to support the war, they demonstrate its failure. If the war were actually successful, much less necessary, there would be good, honest arguments in its favor. McCain and Pace and far too many warheads have shown again and again that there are none.
--Wisco
Technorati tags: politics; Harry Reid; John McCain and Peter Pace catapult the propaganda -- pretty much proving that the Iraq war's in the toilet
