The vacuous intellect of the anti-war Left
In this morning’s Washington Post, Dana Milbank writes about yesterday’s protest at the White House;
If the commander in beef had been watching from a window, he would have had reason for concern. Not the demonstrators themselves: They were Green Party types with some self-proclaimed socialists thrown in, and they had never been enthusiastic Obama supporters to start with. What the president should worry about is whether these activists are indicators of bigger things to come if he sides with his generals and decides to bulk up the U.S. force in Afghanistan.
In Congress a bill was introduced to cut off funding for the President to add more troops (sent to us on super-secret email list);
SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON INCREASE IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN.
No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to increase the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan so that the number of members serving in Afghanistan exceeds the number so serving on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The sponsors of the bill reads like a “usual suspects” list;
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. WATSON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. COHEN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. STARK, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. FILNER, and Mr. GRAYSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
Of course, like TSO emailed, it probably won’t even be discussed by the Armed Forces Committee – yet there it is. It’s all political posturing that strokes the far left egos. And they’re all playing with the lives of our troops.
Anyone who doesn’t think that the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t encouraged by this, is fooling themselves. Anyone who doesn’t think that the antics of the far left over the last eight years is the reason that we’re still fighting these stone age cretins on barren mountain slopes halfway around the world doesn’t grasp the idea of low intensity warfare.
Every death, every lost limb, every case of PTSD can be laid at the feet of the anti-war, pro-terrorist left.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Code Pink, Terror War, Usual Suspects
Wow, that list is like a who’s who of left wing idiocy. Lee? Yep. Waters? Yep. Conyers? Yep. ‘Bout the only name missing is Kerry, but I guess he’s too busy voting for it before voting against it.
It looks like while Mr.Grayson busy is telling the world that the Republicans’ idea of health care is for people to die quickly, his idea of supporting the troops already in Afghanistan is for them to die quickly. Why doesn’t even one name on this list surprise me?
“Anyone who doesn’t think that the antics of the far left over the last eight years is the reason that we’re still fighting these stone age cretins on barren mountain slopes halfway around the world doesn’t grasp the idea of low intensity warfare.”
Damn lefites. Oh yeah, now that I think of it, maybe the failed Rumsfeld doctrine of fighting a privatized war on the cheap had sumthin’ to do with it, and maybe all those dollars and resources that were clandestinely diverted in ’02-’03 for the future war in Iraq had a little, bitty effect……
Thanks, Joe, for volunteering to demonstrate the kind of vacuous intellect I mentioned.
Easy to hurl insults, harder to deal with facts. No one ever accused conservatives of being “reality-based”.
Joe: “[The American anti-war movement] was essential to our strategy. Support for the war from our rear was completely secure while the American rear was vulnerable. Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses. We were elated when Jane Fonda, wearing a red Vietnamese dress, said at a press conference that she was ashamed of American actions in the war and that she would struggle along with us.” ~~Bui Tin
“The conscience of America was part of its war-making capability, and we were turning that power in our favor. America lost because of its democracy; through dissent and protest it lost the ability to mobilize a will to win.”~~Bui Tin
That’s all you need to know about the anti-war movement. If you care to actually learn something, instead of sticking your head back in the latte factory; maybe you should read more from our past enemies in order to get a full understanding of what we’re talking about.
Now, about that old saw “reality based”? I like “projection” much better, since I have yet to see any argument by the left based in reality.
As one who occassionally dabbles into the left, What I think Joe is trying to say is that it took Bush/Rumsfeld quite a few years to figure out a real strategy in Iraq, which coupled with the current and ongoing confusion among our civilian leadership with Afghanistan, has caused people to basically forget the reason for being in Afghanistan and just want to be done with the thing. Basically, the left and right have both botched this thing, just in different ways, although the left is getting even more fruity.
I disagree with this nutty bill and with the notion of leaving Afghanistan, but I would like to see Obama make a decision. I actually was happy to see him continuing the atacks in Pakistan and pressure on the Pakistanis to act a little bit, but still…
“Damn lefites. Oh yeah, now that I think of it, maybe the failed Rumsfeld doctrine of fighting a privatized war on the cheap had sumthin’ to do with it, and maybe all those dollars and resources that were clandestinely diverted in ‘02-’03 for the future war in Iraq had a little, bitty effect……”
Hey Joe…let’s go back a little further than Bush and Cheney to the Clinton Admin. Who squandered the peacetime dividend even after several US operatives and targets were hit by terrorists?
That would be Billy Jeff ignoring bin-Laden’s first WTC attack and bombing aspirin factories instead of finding ways to help the troops for what was to come. No, they didn’t know what would happen, but nothing preventive ensued, did it, asshole? Is Lynn Stewart one of your idols?
I’ve had it up to here with you leftist freaks and the kumbaya singing about how it was all Bush,all the time. Go back to the cave and wipe the brown off your nose. Or should I term it the oreo cookie goo?
Hey! Hey! LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?
OldTrooper, you’re fond of saying, “That’s all you need to know…” the sign of a true conservative. Why muddle your brain with all that inconvenient new “information” and “data”? One could argue that we would have “won” in Viet Nam without the antiwar movement, or one could argue that the antiwar movement wasn’t aggressive enough, could have saved thousands of American lives (and millions of Vietnamese lives)if we had gotten out earlier. But even the now-departed main architect of the war admitted thirty years after the fact that it was a fatally flawed plan.
But Afghanistan is not Viet Nam. I always thought Afghanistan was “the good war”, totally justified; they, or their proxies attacked us. But we all know Bush and President Cheney were bound and determined to invade Iraq – the whole UN charade was merely for public consumption, the decision had already been made. I still have a strong sense that once Bush got Iraq in his sights, we diverted resources and basically left the job in Afghanistan as an afterthought, half-done, and I know ex-military people who went over there as contractors in ’03-’04 who feel the same way. In hindsight, did Clinton fully recognize the threat – no. But he was not alone in this lapse. We all learned a painful lesson that day.
Imagine for a minute that we hadn’t drained our money, resources and political will in Iraq, and instead put those efforts into finishing the job right in Afghanistan. Where would we be now? We still have to finish the it, the question is what is the best way to dig ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves into? I’m glad a bunch of people a lot smarter than me are debating the issue….
Mr Biden- This is not the blog you were looking for.
There is no diff between VN and Afgh and Iraq, etc. It is all about protecting USA business interests and making blood money…………
Joe: Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate that you aren’t able to connect the dots. Unfortunately most on the left lack critical thinking skills and common sense. The words I posted were written by those who have witnessed this debacle before. You want reality? Ok, here’s a little bit for you: Did you know that most of our enemies know that we have a pussy as President? Did you know that they watch our anti-war types, just as the Vietnamese did? I know it’s hard for you to grasp this; but we ain’t talking about Iraq, just as this ain’t Vietnam. Why do you folks on the left have to continually bring Bush and Cheney into everything? Do you guys on the left have man-crushes on them two? I’m just curious, because they aren’t even in office, we aren’t talking about Iraq, and you still have to bring them into this.
This is your boy’s war now, yet he wants to worry about much more important things like getting bitch slapped by the IOC, because his and his wife’s speeches consisted of I and me, more than anything else.
He needs to get the f*ck out of the way, provide the tools necessary for victory, and let the pros handle this. Instead, he wants to sit on the request for over a month while he brings in his national security advisors for a circle jerk a few more times. Like I said previously, he can’t vote “present” anymore. I wish he showed as much focus on this as he has on every other socialist shitpile he’s been trying to cram down our throats.
Just because the left doesn’t like to win, doesn’t mean they are the majority, or correct. In fact, they are, as usual, incorrect.
Saving lives means letting our commanders do their jobs, instead of f*cking around with bs trips to Europe and having “date nights” with the first wookie, while leaving the commanders in limbo.
Certain of you guys obviously have a lot of free-floating hostility that needs a target – glad to be of service. Sorry if the enemy is encouraged when they see a democracy engaging in a healty debate – one of the drawbacks of the worst system political system on earth, except for all the others. And, no actually, he doesn’t “have to get the f*ck out of the way” – if you are in the service he’s your boss. I think that was made clear when you enlisted, and if you can’t accept that, why didn’t you go into a different line of work?
Thank goodness we don’t live in a world designed by you, OldTrooper, where honest questions are treated as treason. And I hate to dwell in the past, but Bush, Cheney and Co. are in fact the ones responsible for this mess, they did more damage to this country that Al Queda could ever dream of, damage that will never be repaired. They had eight years to put this country in the ditch, and I’m gonna give Obama another seven to try and dig us out before I pass judgement.
Are you serial? There is a difference between healthy debate and carrying a sign that encourages the use of violence against your officers (that little tidbit was carried at several anti-war rallies). Healthy debate isn’t a bunch of doorknobs standing utside WRAMC wshing ill on the wounded troops as they come through the gate. Call it what you will, but I never said treason; did I? No, that’s that little leftist thing called projection, once again. As for Barry being the boss; yeah, he is in title, however there’s a difference between having the title of boss and actually having the leadership skills to be a boss. If he’s the boss, then he should act like one, instead of acting like the stuffed waffle special at IHOP. As for him being able to clean up the mess? If this is how he’s going to do it, I would rather have Bill Clinton back, at least he could lie convincingly. You chastized me for showing conclusive evidence of how our enemies have viewed the “healthy debate” and how it affects their morale, but alas, you want to have it both ways, as leftists usually do, when you justify bringing Bush and Cheney back into it. The left was whining like little bitches that Bush needed to listen to his Generals, when they asked for more troops in Iraq, but now we have to rely on the fraud in chief to be much more contemplative and sit on his hands for over a month when his hand picked General asks for more troops in order for victory?? And yes, tis is now Obama’s war, no matter what you want to say. He inherited it; so what? Nixon inherited Vietnam, Bush inherited Bosnia and Kosovo (which, btw, we are still there, also), Bush inherited Osama Bin Hiden, when Clinton had several opportunities to take him deep. The problem is you say that A-stan is “the good war”, yet you want us to lose there, also? Make up your mind; do you want victory or defeat? If you don’t want to win, along with… Read more »
While I am intent on playing devil’s advocate in some of these debates, Old Trooper has a good point of the ramifications of simply pulling out of Afghanistan. Look what happened when we did that in Somalia. We established a perceived cut-and-run mentality and propensity to simply leave when the public demonstrates that it can’t stomach a foreign war. Somalia emboldened the terrorists. When we didn’t fight back after the 1993 WTC, they were further emboldended. Embassy bombings? A few cruise missles and that’s the end of it. All of this played a developmental role in 9/11 and the other plots that either happened around the world, or were foiled ie shoe bomb.
Now some… Libertarians, leftists, and others… would argue that we shouldn’t be anywhere in the world but at home. Regardless, reality is what we are facing so that argument doesn’t “empire” argument doesn’t fly either.
The Left-wing antiwar movement is nothing but a big joke that no one is laughing at anymore. RJ Rummel’s democide statistics effectively kill any scant skimmer of legitimacy that the Left’s anti-war stance ever had. If oppressive governments kill more people than wars do, then where is the logic in being pro big government and anti-war?
The Libertarians on the other hand. Well I don’t agree with them on everything, but the fact that they tend to be both anti-war and anti-government makes me at least take their position seriously.
I like to think I am libertarian – I believe in small government because nothing screws up a good idea like letting the government get involved. However, I don’t want anybody else’s government involved in my life either, so I believe in a strong defense. In the words of Toby Keith, when it is in our best interest or you mess with us – “we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American Way.”
Just an aside of sorts: I have an acquaintance who was a genuine SF soldier in VN. I’ve seen his records.
He is a full-tilt Ron Paul Libertarian. He calls Bush’s post 9/11 behavior ‘skeerism’. Mind you, he has yet to offer a practical alternative reaction… but he does say there is no threat from the ragheads.
I can’t figure it out. More people died on 9/11 (and more importantly – related attacks around the world) than died at Pearl Harbor… yet?
Glad to see “Baghdad” Jim McDermott made the list. He never dissapoints!
For true-blue Libertarians, there is a country that embodies all the virtues of that platform – absolute minimum government interference, low taxes, complete individual freedom. It’s called Somalia, you might want to visit it…..
And John Conyers managed to not disappoint those of us who have followed his stellar career. I wonder if he read the text of the resolution before he put his name on it.
And for those who enjoy government involved in every moment of their lives, Joe, you can try the People’s Republic of China, or North Korea, or Cuba. Central planning, government run health care, from each according to his means, to each according to his needs.
UpNorth, I brought up one extreme, you’ve mentioned three other extremes in the opposite direction. So what you’re saying, UpNorth, is there’s a balance there somewhere? Just trying to tease out some middle ground, break through all the extremeist, absolutist talk on this website….
[…] can see a more plainspoken strain of this meme on This Ain’t Hell and similar sites: Anyone who doesn’t think that the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t encouraged by […]
[…] can see a more plainspoken strain of this meme on This Ain’t Hell and similar sites: Anyone who doesn’t think that the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t encouraged by […]
[…] can see a more plainspoken strain of this meme on This Ain’t Hell and similar sites: Anyone who doesn’t think that the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t encouraged by […]
[…] can see a more plainspoken strain of this meme on This Ain’t Hell and similar sites: Anyone who doesn’t think that the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t encouraged by […]
Yankees can honestly viewed as the scourge of the world.