Do you FEEL safer?

[tw]

Last night's Frontline aired "Rumsfeld's War" on PBS. When Rumsfeld could not get his invasion of Iraq with only 50,000 men, then he eliminated those who represented the Army's best interests including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Sec of the Army and the JAG Corp. Back then, was a need for at least 230,000 men for at least two years. Rumsfeld would not concede to even that minimal amount.

Important was that the US would have a 'honeymoon' to get the country working again. If not accomplished in that honeymoon period, then only bad things would happen in-country. The George Jr administration refused to plan for the peace - so the war never ended. But then even Sze Tzu taught that in 500 BC.

Rumsfeld somehow felt that 50,000 troops all put in Baghdad would be sufficient to create peace in a 6,500,000 city. Somehow, with less men than the NYPD, he would secure all of Iraq (his logic was that obviously flawed). Somehow if 50,000 US troops occupied only Baghdad, then peace and prosperity would break out all over Iraq. As for looting nationwide, Rumsfeld complains that one boy repeatedly shown looting a vase does not constitute nationwide looting. He was that much removed from reality because his political agenda was more important.

So out of touch were the neo-cons that they disbanded the Iraqi Army and Police even as nationwide disorder continued. Even in the Cellar, many outrightly denied it was that bad - the press must be liars. Extremist rhetoric remains despite reality. Did he really think 50,000 would maintain law and order?

Well understood: the military is overstretched, with 20 of 33 combat brigades deployed at any time. Not sustainable which is why troops are even under stop-loss orders. Even when their tour is up, they still must remain in the service (in part because recruitment is now at an all time low). Just like in Nam, an unjustified war without a smoking gun undermines the military.

Well understood was that miles of munition dumps and sophisticated equipment remained unguarded for a year+. Numerous buildings containing sophisticated equipment to make nuclear weapons were simply removed during this period. Where is that nuclear bomb making equipment? No one knows. The UN was not permitted back into Iraq after the US invasion - under orders of this administration. US military ignored UN warnings about that equipment. Now that equipment is in the hands of what new nuclear power? Do you feel safer knowing this is how the George Jr administration makes decisions? Could any other president be more incompetant? Not likely.

Another facility contained 380 tons of various high explosives for making nuclear bombs. Is this material in hands of a new nuclear power or are these materials killing Americans daily? Having not provided sufficient troops, the honeymoon is long over. Eighty insurgent attacks occur every day. And still many munition dumps remain unguarded.

But the US denies this material was there. George Jr administration claimed the material was not there when the 101st arrived. Today, the NY Times exposes another lie from this administration:

No Check of Bunker, Unit Commander Says on 27 Oct 2004
White House officials reasserted yesterday that 380 tons of powerful explosives may have disappeared from a vast Iraqi military complex while Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, saying a brigade of American soldiers did not find the explosives when they visited the complex on April 10, 2003, the day after Baghdad fell.

But the unit's commander said in an interview yesterday that his troops had not searched the site and had merely stopped there overnight.

The commander, Col. Joseph Anderson, of the Second Brigade of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, said he did not learn until this week that the site, Al Qaqaa, was considered sensitive, or that international inspectors had visited it before the war began in 2003 to inspect explosives that they had tagged during a decade of monitoring.

Even more appalling than the missing explosives and missing nuclear bomb making machines - this administration openly lies but again. They claimed the material was not there - ignoring that they would not even let the UN inspectors verify the site. Tonight, the Russians are again demanding the UN Inspectors be permitted back in Iraq because, obviously, the US cannot be trusted. The US is making the world easier for terrorists?

Let's see. Who in the world is promoting nuclear proliferation? Was it Iraq? Is it the Muslim Brotherhood? No. Those on the suspect list of promoting nuclear proliferation include Pakistan (no mystery there), India (probably has helped Iran build a bomb), and Brazil. Notice every one is suppose to be a US ally. Also on the list are North Korea and Iran because both expect unilateral invasion by the US. Can we blame them if George Jr is president? Why does the US turn a blind eye to real potential threats - which again begs the question what happened to that nuclear bomb making equipment?

Do you feel safer now that such equipment and 300+ tons of high explosives - once in secure facilities - is now distributed somewhere in a black market? Dangerous material out there because George Jr invades Iraq AND refused to provide sufficient troops to win the peace. All this directly traceable to a sitting president who says Kerry is a danger? How much more dangerous could George Jr have made the world?

As if that were not enough, the Frontline report repeats another major fact. On 13 September 2001 in a principles meeting in Camp David, George Jr asked for a vote to invade Iraq in retaliation. If anyone still believes George Jr is an honest man, then stand up to be counted as naive. Even back then, the administration was seeking an excuse to attack Iraq - facts and reality be damned.

Back then, Colin Powell still had enough influence to argue for attacking the real enemy - Afghanistan. However today, Colin Powell has been so marginalized by the neo-cons that he probably will be leaving in months. In an administration that makes decisions based upon ideology rather than facts; that uses lies to justify their agenda; that even tried to get us into a shooting war with China over a silly spy plane; obviously Powell has no future with the George Jr administration. If you thought Rumsfeld, Rove, and Cheney were extremists tempered by centrists, then worry. The centrists have been driven out. They even rewrote the rules so that torture would be justified - intentionally hiding that fact from both Powell and Rice until after the fact. Torture at Abu Ghraid is based upon procedures pioneered and in use for years in Guantanamo. But these are honest men who can be trusted to even protect our civil rights?

The George Jr administration is nothing but extremists with an agenda that calls for Pearl Harbor style attacks on Iran and North Korea. Who would even lie again about missing munitions so that we blame anyone but them. Who would even go to war with China over a silly spy plane. Do you really feel safe? See that Frontline report on the internet.

[TheSnake]

I don't really feel any more or less safe than before in my current location. Well, I guess, you could say a little less safe because the threat is real. But, if I ever wanted to feel completely safe again, I'd just move to Montana.

Originally Posted by TheSnake

I don't really feel any more or less safe than before in my current location. Well, I guess, you could say a little less safe because the threat is real. But, if I ever wanted to feel completely safe again, I'd just move to Montana.

Yeah, don't let the 200 or so missle silos up there worry you any. No one would bother with THEM, right? Right. http://montanakids.com/db_engine/pre...ntana+Missiles

I can't tell you how pleased I am to hear that Brazil is promoting nuclear proliferation. They may be our allies on paper, but, in reality, they hate our guts. See, there's this litle problem with the thing called the Amazon rain forest which they blame us for - they feel like we have unduely interfered with Brazilian internal policies on that one plus a few zillion other things. Me, I feel VERY safe living near NORAD. I'll never even know what hit me - as easy an out as any.

[garnet]

Good post, TW (as always!). Do I feel safer? No way. I'm generally not the pessimistic type, but it's only a matter of time before something really, really bad happens. Very scary.

[Trilby]

tw is insane.

[Undertoad]

As usual Belmont Club is essential reading.

...the NYT's use of an interview with the Col. Anderson is totally worthless. They interviewed the wrong unit commander. It was a 3ID outfit that searched the place with the intent of discovering dangerous materials nearly six days before. The 101st had no such mission. Moreover, the NYT's innuendo that "the huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had monitored the explosives for many years ..." suggests a well-manicured facility that had been run to seed by knuckle-dragging American incompetence after faithful care by the IAEA. It totally ignores the disorderly condition in which 3ID found it, where, if the NYT correspondents had been present, they might have taken home their own boxes "with three vials of white powder, together with documents in Arabic that dealt with how to engage in chemical warfare" -- surely a sign it was untampered with, unless the NYT wishes to assert the contrary and thereby destroy their own case.

[Troubleshooter]

Actually I feel a growing, and more realistic, fear of my own government as opposed to any other.

[Trilby]

I will feel safer when everyone in the whole world no longer wishes to kill me. Because I'm an American. Even Marisa Tomei travels under her Italian passport and who the hell is Marisa Tomei?

[TheSnake]

I can live far enough from those silos. Or maybe I'll just move to the Northwest Territory....good ol' Northwest Territory.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

As usual Belmont Club is essential reading.

the NYT's use of an interview with the Col. Anderson is totally worthless. They interviewed the wrong unit commander. It was a 3ID outfit that searched the place with the intent of discovering dangerous materials nearly six days before. The 101st had no such mission. ...

Defects (also called spin) in that Belmont article. The 3rd ID arrived at that location, fought a small battle with Iraqi forces, and then moved on. Pentagon had a UN list of locations that required special protection. This location appears six times on this list for various reasons - it was that dangerous. But the 3rd ID was moving to Baghdad - never told what was in that facility. 3rd ID never even tried to verify what was in that facility. They had no orders to look so they did not look. A week later, the 101st also was camped overnight at that facility. They too were never told what was in those bunkers. They intentionally made no attempt to learn.

The Pentagon was informed well before the Iraq invasion where critical equipment and materials were stored. Contrary to what many right wing extremists say, the UN really did know where most everything was stored. UN had placed seals on these bunkers. UN told the Pentagon six reasons why this facility was dangerous. The Pentagon did not protect this and apparently did not protect most facilities on that list. Looting resulted. Again - Pentagon had no plans for the peace - as even stated by former Lt Colonel Macgregor (who advocated the fast 50,000 man attack). Even this Colonel is quite critical of how the administration planned for the peace. Administration completely ignoring principles that would make a small attack force successful. Briana - read MacGregor's long interview so that George Jr cannot keep lying to you. The devil is in the details. But you must read them.

Where are the high explosives so necessary to make nuclear bombs? And where are the machines for constructing nukes? When Saddam was under UN inspection, then none of those materials were a threat to the world. America may have made nuclear proliferation easier due to a Bush foreign policy called pre-emption verses the generations proven policy of containment.

Even worse, the administration knew of this problem 2 weeks ago. They are now hustling to spin a response. They had two weeks to interview 101st Airborne and 3rd ID - build a cover story. They did nothing to protect themselves, politically, for two weeks? Competence in the White House is again questioned . Did they really think this and missing nuclear manufacturing equipment would go unnoticed? Apparently, yes. George Jr campaign is not even trying to recruit swing voters to their campaign stops. They need those with an MTV attention span to vote. An MTV reader would be bored by the reality. The George Jr administration fears intelligent people would learn how poorly they ran a war that war.

Competence. The White House had two weeks to prepare spin. Where are facts that don't fall apart as soon as they are spun? For that matter, when do we go looking for bin Laden? Do you feel safer knowing the White House cannot even come up with a good lie after 2 weeks?

[tw]

Originally Posted by Brianna

I will feel safer when everyone in the whole world no longer wishes to kill me. Because I'm an American. Even Marisa Tomei travels under her Italian passport and who the hell is Marisa Tomei?

Safety changed when George Jr took the White House. Only right wing extremists believe the whole world was always trying to kill Americans. Noted by two engineers, who bicycle through foreign countries. Major change from only four years ago. It is now better to let others believe you are Canadian. Virtually the entire world hates George Jr. An Egyptian friend recently told me, he is having great difficulty explaining this to his friends and family back home: its not Americans who are the problem. It is George Jr. In that last four years, the world went from welcoming Americans most everywhere to disliking Americans. This completely traceable to an anti-humanity George Jr administration who even justifies torture in Guantanamo and Abu Ghriad. The mental midget George Jr has made it that dangerous to be American.

Only five years ago, Americans could go most anywhere in the world and be welcome. Do you really feel saver knowing that this president even lies about authorizing torture in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraid? Please turn off MTV. Learn of a real world out there. BBC World Service is boring - because it reports long details about reality. Only five years ago, Americans could go safely even in most every Middle East country. Now, American soldiers in Korea cannot leave base alone. In four years, even once very friendly Korea became dangerous to Americans. George Jr has made the world that dangerous for all American citizens - because he lies. His supporters claim the world was always that dangerous. They lie out of ignorance and listening to too much Rush Limbaugh.

How to change world opinion? Step one. Eliminate the problem next week - George Jr. But it will take a long time. George Jr has done that much damage in so little time. He has even made it necessary from some countries to develop nuclear weapons.

Marisa Tomei - in the movie "My Cousin Vinny" with Joe Pesci and 'Herman Munster'.

[Cyber Wolf]

I wonder if I can really answer this question as it's put. I'm more worried about local crime than I am about nutters wasting good cars making and using car bombs Over There. Gangs and their activities are on the rise here in DCland. Keeping things in perspective, that's much more threatening to me than Those Guys are. I personally never felt threatened by The Islamic Extremists et al. But I do feel threatened by some of the gang activity that seems to be spreading around here. I'll worry about the rattlesnake at my feet before the beast on the other end of the field.

I gotta agree with Cyber. It's the mundane things closer to home which are most to be feared. Thank God, I don't live in a town that has gang activities and very little, if any, violent crime. That leaves (1)car accidents, (2)Walmart, and (3)deer at the top of my realistic fear of personal injury list.

(1)Statisticly speaking, A person is far more likely to get killed or injured in a car accident than by a terrorist.

(2)My local Walmart is a hazardous place where stockers spill all kinds of things and neglect to clean up or post signs. Case in point: Last week the local Walmart was the scene of a massive hazardous icing spill. The stuff was apparently from a 20 gallon container of Sam's best donut glaze. Somehow this stuff got upended all down one grocery aisle, and it blended right in with the shiny linoleum surface of the floor. No one did anything about it or put up any of those "wet floor" signs, and I was rounding the corner of the aisle at a trot, in a hurry to be out of that place (I HATE Walmart) when I skidded into the icing and went down - HARD! I still have the bruise on my hip to remind me of the event, plus the accident report Walmart made me fill out.

(3)Deer are a real terror in my part of the world. After about 3:00 pm the highways belong to them, and they make sure you know it. Round every curve, there they are, sticking out their tongues and waggling their hooves in front of their antlers at you. They especially love to play chicken with motorists when the roads are wet or icey. I think it's their way of paying mankind back for hunting season. Last year one jumped out at me as I was rounding a curve at the suggested speed limit of 50 miles an hour. I hit my brakes, hit the deer which bounded off unfazed, and did a complete 180 on the two lane highway, placing me directly in the path of a speeding coal truck headed for the Tri-States Power Plant coming in the opposite direction. You remember little moments like this, even with a memory as bad as mine.

I might add that in both of the two incidents I cited above, Homeland Security was nowhere to be found.

[Happy Monkey]

Another embedded reporter weighs in on the Al Qaqaa explosives:

During that trip, members of the 101st Airborne Division showed the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS news crew bunker after bunker of material labelled "explosives." Usually it took just the snap of a bolt cutter to get into the bunkers and see the material identified by the 101st as detonation cords.
...
Once the doors to the bunkers were opened, they weren't secured. They were left open when the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew and the military went back to their base.
...
On Wednesday, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS e-mailed still images of the footage taken at the site to experts in Washington to see if the items captured on tape are the same kind of high explosives that went missing in Al Qaqaa. Those experts could not make that determination.
The footage is now in the hands of security experts to see if it is indeed the explosives in question.

[Undertoad]

Snap of a bolt cutter sounds like the IAEA seals. I saw video of the seals and they are basically the kind of cable that secures laptops, with what looked like secure thingy that changes color if the cable is messed with. That wasn't very impressive as a secure seal and at first I was going to write a message that said so.

It's like they put a chain on the front door and said, OK, that stuff is "secure". Just ignore the ventilation shaft, we don't secure those. The fact that this stuff is prohibited to Hussein in the first place and located in a hidden bunker is not really relevant to our job.

But all that says is that the statement "once the doors were opened they weren't secured" is meaningless. If they could get in with a bolt cutter, they weren't secured BEFORE the US got there. Except by the rule of Hussein, which left a vacuum after he was disposed that was not filled by enough authority.