Republicans don’t seem to have the same sort of memory that most of us have. Theirs seems to be much more selective and malleable. In other words, if the real memory doesn’t support their current position it can morph into an entirely different one. Such seems to be the case as they assess the crisis in Iraq in which the Shiite dominated government seems poised to fall to a Sunni insurgency led by an al Qaeda offshoot called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The right rallied quickly to condemn President Obama, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President’s entire National Security team for “allowing” this to happen. It is all his fault, they say, made possible when he pulled all of our troops out of the country in December of 2011. Had he left a stabilizing force in place, they say, this would not have happened.
This is a case of a complete memory morph since the withdrawal of our forces in 2011 honored an agreement between the U.S. and the Iraqi government which required that all of our troops be out of the country by December 31, 2011. That agreement was drawn up in October of 2008, during George W. Bush’s term, and ratified by the Iraqi government one month later — before President Obama took office.
And hey not to nitpick but Bush was also the one who ignored advice from the military not to invade Iraq, used faulty information to convince the American people it was necessary, did not provide our troops with the equipment and armored vehicles they needed to survive over there, declared victory before the fighting really even got started, and was never able to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden which was the originally stated goal for us sending any troops overseas in the first place.
But hey, at least he was white. Right conservatives?
Nitpick away, Gryph, you're right!
ReplyDeleteRepublicans = hypocritical lying assholes.
ReplyDeleteBut let us never forget how many Democrats voted for Bush's trumped up war, despite the lack of evidence of WMD's, and Colin Powell's obvious bullshit UN performance. It wasn't because they didn't know better (looking at you, Hillary Clinton)... it was because they feared the political repercussions if they didn't.
Yah, they fear The Dick.....and his human hunting hit squad. Following is some interesting reading...and also the comments....more names and references.
DeleteDeath Rattles: The Hangings of the DC Madam and the Prostitute
http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/node/2049
7:12 They should charge Bush, Cheney, Rummey and C. Rice for taking us to war for false reasons. Those folks should be put on trial, they'd more than likely be found guilty and then would have to suffer the consequences (whatever they may be!).
DeletePresident Obama has been saddled w/this crap and blamed for it and IT IS NOT HIS FAULT.
I detest Republicans and more and more throughout the USA are feeling the same way. (i.e. Cantor/U.S. Congressman)
McConnell - Kentucky - needs to be railroaded out of office next! He has been a nasty Congressman and has been after President Obama since he took the oath the 'first' time. He wanted him to fail! But, President Obama was elected a second time and that really pissed them off!
Vote EVERY Republican out of office (McCain in Arizona!) that you can in the upcoming elections - everywhere - governors across the nation, but especially the guys and gals in the U.S. Congress!
Gles, I've always believed the DC Madam's murder was ordered by someone with top Republican connections to shut her up before she started pointing fingers at high level Repubs who used her services. No way did she willingly hang herself.
DeleteThe invasion of Iraq was planned for a long while. That's why Bush-Cheney had to steal the 2000 election. That's (part of) the reason for 911. This current discussion is just silly BS.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "correct way" to "handle" Iraq. The US does not "own" Iraq, and it is not the job of the US to control what is happening there. The situation is very complex and the folks there need to work it out themselves. The painful wounds of 19th and 20th century imperialism, along with hundreds of years of Ottoman rule before that will not be erased by a bunch of smart bombs. Moreover, the Shia-Sunni divide is part of a LONG cultural history. It is not ours to change. The Kurds are another story. Finally, the mess that the US made in the last invasion led to massive "ethnic cleansing." So stop the stupid soundbites on this complex issue. No band-aids need apply.
THANK you, conscious, I have had to remind so many of this! Is the average person's memory is so short-term that they think they can perpetuate these lies and get away with it? And the media just sits there and lets them do it without setting the record straight. Unbelievable!
DeleteHear Hear!
DeleteNo, Obama Didn’t Lose Iraq: What The President’s Critics Get Wrong
ReplyDeleteThey blame Obama for being unwilling or unable to reach a deal with Baghdad to leave U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for withdrawal established by the Bush administration; and they asset that such a residual presence would have proved decisive in heading off the current calamity. Neither criticism withstands much scrutiny.
Here are the facts.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/no-obama-didnt-lose-iraq-107874_full.html#.U58TYbGKgV8
A Few Facts About the Bush White House and Iraq Troop Withdrawal
ReplyDeletehttp://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/43495_A_Few_Facts_About_the_Bush_White_House_and_Iraq_Troop_Withdrawal
I'm here in Florida visiting my father, Ed Reich, who, at the young age of 100 and a half, just came up with one of the most incisive assessments I've heard of what's happened in Iraq: "George W. Bush and the crooks he hired are responsible for this. If they hadn't lied to the American people about weapons of mass destruction we wouldn't have lost nearly 5,000 American lives and god knows how many Iraqi lives, and stirred up this hornet's nest. Obama has spent his entire administration cleaning up Bush's shit, like someone with a giant pooper scooper." Dad has lived during the administrations of 17 presidents. "Bush was the worst," he says. "Reagan the second worst."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/811333382212593?fref=nf
Smart dad! I only disagree with his ranking. IMO Reagan was the worst.
DeleteYeah I blame Reagan and the people who voted for him for giving the reichwing a leg up after Watergate.
DeleteFirsty boosh in the henhouse under ronnie rayGUN.
Total impact larger from a historical perspective for the big setup than what booshchaneyboosh actually executed on imo.
The only edit I would make in what his father said is that he forgot to mention that the Republicans in Congress cut an enormous hole in the bottom of that giant pooper scooper and broke the handle before they handed it over to the President.
DeleteMcCain saying this is Obama's fault because he didn't leave US Troops in Iraq, which is a lie, The President offered to leave some Military behind, the Iraq President said thanks but no thanks, Gryph, that photo is very telling, remember when someone threw a shoe at George W? who you think was standing on the other side of the podium..lol
ReplyDeleteI suggest everyone read Stonekettle Station's "Absolutely Nothing" on Gryph's blog roll to your left.
ReplyDeleteuhh, I don't think Stonekettle Station's will be invited on any of the Sunday Morning talk shows, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH"---A few good Men
DeleteI used to be told in one church bible study that the US was persecuted for it's faith in Christ, and because it was a christian nation. It sounded reasonable given Islamist terrorists attacked on 9/11, and gave glory to Allah. But, that theory does not compute with me anymore.
ReplyDeleteOne would be inclined to believe it's all about a religious competition. However, now, as I'm older and hopefully wiser, it's getting so obvious how the US has been hated because of it's interference in middle eastern affairs. I'm not saying it should be hated, just that if we step back and look at their perspective, meddling by US administrations have stirred more conflicts and created a monster with already unreasonable unrestrained unmerciful killers, who wage war just for the fun of it.
It's not fair for terrorist organizations to blame the US entirely. The whole world is to blame. Not one person on this earth can say they didn't have a hand in what goes on with these unrestrained vengeance-thirsty killers. We close an eye and worry about our next vacation over here, and brutal violence gets over-run with Kardashian news, or Fox News cares more about Benghazi, and Sarah Palin's word salad about how she's a perpetual victim.
On the one hand, the most powerful nation (militarily) should have the upper hand, in order to quell dangerous factions, which could increase exponentially and come dangerously close to us.
It's a no-win situation. If we want to keep the peace here, we have to kick ass over there. If we want to bury our heads in the sand and ignore what's going on over there, we risk having this poison get uncomfortably too close here. It's a dilemna. Still, I am so thankful President Obama is in charge at this moment and not McCain or Palin.
My 2 cent thoughts for the day.
Your Bible study experience is interesting, because I remember seeing an incredibly offensive e-mail, I believe by Billy Graham's daughter, right after 9/11. She blamed the terrorist attacks on the fact that the U.S. had "taken prayer out of public schools," was considering giving rights to teh gays, allowed abortion, etc., etc. Those right-wing Christians LOVE their persecution narratives, whether it's God judging the country or the terrorists hating the U.S. for being "Christian."
DeleteIf I was in any church that mixed politics with teachings, I'd get up and walk out.
DeletePat Robertson
ReplyDeletewww.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/16/pat-robertson-unloads-on-bush-for-latest-iraq-crisis-we-were-sold-a-bill-of-goods/
The latest public figure who was utterly horribly wrong in almost everything he did in Iraq but now wants us to send more US soldiers to die for a neocon pipe dream is L. Paul Bremer, the guy who dissolved the Iraqi Army and very possibly engendered the situation Iraq is in right now: L. Paul Bremer: Only America Can Prevent a Disaster in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to read Bremer’s latest bad advice in its awful entirety, click here:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/l-paul-bremer-only-america-can-prevent-a-disaster-in-iraq-1402869886
Sez the arsonist: "Gimme a hand with these gas cans will ya?"
DeletePat Robertson Rips Bush For Causing Latest Iraq Crisis: 'We Were Sold A Bill Of Goods!'
ReplyDelete"Right now, what we did -- and it was a great mistake to go in there," Robertson explained, pointing out that Saddam Hussein's "bomb maker" had said that the then-dictator "doesn't know how to make an atomic bomb."
"And so to sell the American people on weapons of mass destruction, he had WMD and was getting [concentrated uranium] yellowcake out of Africa and all of that, it was a lot of nonsense," the TV preacher said. "We were sold a bill of goods, we should never have gone into that country!"
"As bad as Saddam Hussein was, he held those warring factions in check, and he contained those radical Islamists," he continued. "Fix it, no? It's too late to fix it. It's unfixable. Those simmering animosities have been there for centuries."
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/06/pat-robertson-rips-bush-causing-latest
Flashback: That Time George W. Bush Said ‘God Told Me’ to Attack Iraq
ReplyDelete“President Bush said to all of us: ‘I am driven with a mission from God’. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did.”
Mr. Bush went on: “And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East’. And, by God, I’m gonna do it.”
http://aattp.org/flashback-that-time-george-w-bush-said-god-told-me-to-attack-iraq/
The irony, it burns. Those things are exactly what the people we waged war on were saying all along.
DeleteObama Critics Invent Absurd New Explanation For Iraq War
ReplyDelete...Now, with Iraq on the verge of unraveling after the departure of U.S. forces, conservative pundits and some politicians who were wrong about Iraq then are declaiming a new reason for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying it was to liberate the Iraqis. The United States sacrificed 4,500 Americans in the name of freedom for the Iraqis, and President Barack Obama is blowing it, they say.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/16/iraq-obama-critics_n_5500337.html
The Republicans are only pro-choice when it comes to war. This is how Chris Matthews did his "let me finish" segment, couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.msnbc.com/the-ed-show/watch/republican-deja-vu-over-iraq-crisis-282561603757
OTOH, I tuned into Morning Joe (I try to catch Mika with her roots growing in) and he's blathering on and on about how Europe "sleepwalks though history" while we, the USA, go it alone and fix the world of all it's problems, meaning "How DARE they play the World Cup" grrr grrr grrr big swig of maalox and a seventeen minute rant which framed it as "Yes, it started under Bush, but Obama knew what he was doing, this is happening under his watch....."
What do they want? WW3?
LOL! re: Mika's roots ;-)
Delete{Me- I'm salt and pepper all the way...mostly salt!)
Same here - and wouldn't change it for the world.
Delete