Cognitive Dissonance

Sure, what we've been doing in Iraq hasn't worked in Iraq. But it's worked great in America. Senator Mitch McConnell

Yep. That's the new meme. Since we haven't been attacked here at home since September 11, 2001 the war in Iraq is a success. Overlooking, as usual, the fact Iraq had nothing to do with the terror attacks of September 11, and not a single hijacker was Iraqi.

I know. I have never done any drug good enough to make that square, either.

But that's what he said, so I presume his connection is better than any I ever had, even when I was an Anthropology major.

Un.Fucking.Believable

(I originally intended to write two posts. One telling the right-wing punditocracy to go Cheney themselves, we have every right to be angry and ill-tempered, and another about the obscenity of moving troops out of Afghanistan and into Iraq. Somehow I segued from one to the other in one post. And then I got started, and I tied obscenity and profainity up in a single bow.)

The right-wing punditocracy has been clucking about the profanity of the left-wing blogosphere lately. I guess you complain about your opponents methods when you've been absolutely fucking wrong about everything for six years. I figuratively moon them while blowing a kazoo and send up a rousing fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I can't swear to it, but I think that's what Ben Franklin would do, and that's good enough for me.

If you can't use profanity when you are talking about an obscenity, when the fuck can you use it?

The war in Iraq is an obscenity. The idea of a troop buildup is an obscenity. Turning away from the justifiable conflict in Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to re-emerge in that country is an obscenity. And taking troops from Afghanistan and the hunt for terrorists and moving them to Baghdad in an effort to quell the sectarian violence that has seized Iraq is a fucking obscenity.

It is also a stab-in-the-back to our allies in the war in Afghanistan who have troops there and who in good faith want to check the terrorist threat. It's a big ole "fuck you!" to the Canadians, Dutch, British, French, Germans, Italians, Portugese, Spanish, Australians, Norwegians, Pakistanis, Czechs and New Zealanders - just off the top of my head. There are several more. And by pulling troops from Afghanistan and repositioning them in Baghdad exactly the opposite of what should be happening we are personally insulting every head of state who committed troops and every allied troop who has served in the conflict. Even fucking obscene isn't quite strong enough.

And how timely! Frank Luntz is on Fresh Air chastising left-wing bloggers for being angry. What the fuck do you expect? When you have been absolutely right about everything for the last six years...and had your patriotism questioned and general threats made against your safety for having the audacity to be right...about absolutely everything, lets see how fucking nice you are about it all. If you are squealing like bitches now, I am investing in earplug futures.

Oh! And lest you think we on the left have anger cornered, I give you a post reader/commenter Apollo 13 left at Political Animal

When Marla Ruzicka, the founder of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, was killed by a car bomb in Iraq, Little Green Football-ers just had to comment:

It’s probably George Bush’s fault for letting her wander around Iraq instead of putting her in a gulag.

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer tool.

Oh, I know what’s next. Her parents will sue the car manufacturer, or maybe the tire maker.

There’s no better useful idiot than a dead useful idiot.

Nominate her for the Mincemeat/Pull-Yourself-Together Award

At least the moonbat parents aren’t yet saying "they killed their best friend."

I can guess what color her eyes were! BLEW!

I’m having another drink to celebrate another moonbat meeting a well deserved demise.

She went from "peace" activist to piece activist.

Another moonbat bitch slapped by reality....

And Hugh Hewitt had the audacity to say of the lefty blogosphere: "They are training a generation of young Democratic activists to be angry, vulgar, profane, and cruel."

So not only does the Wingnutosphere get it wrong, it's not so well-mannered.
Posted by: Apollo 13 on January 9, 2007 at 1:13 AM | PERMALINK

And then there's this: Our wingnuts don't send your hate-peddlers fake anthrax. Domestic terrorism seems to be the province of the wingnuts on the right. But the FBI infiltrates the Quakers.

Hannity and the "Two Minute Hate"

Orwell is spinning in his grave.

On Sean Hannity's new Sunday night show, he is designating an Enemy of the State. No kidding. Enemy of the State. He is selecting a fellow American every week and accusing them of treason, a capital offense.

You know what? The leftists who opposed the whole Freund/Fiend dichotomy as the Nazi's rose to power were right then, and we are right this time as well. Designating an *other* to focus anger and venom toward is a unifying theme of an emerging fascist state. Look it up.

You don't go around branding your fellow Americans as guilty of treason. This is the kind of thing that emboldens the Eric Rudolph's and the Tim McVeigh's and the zealots who gun down doctors for providing abortions. It incites the unstable to commit terrorism against their fellow Americans. So - either Hannity knows this and doesn't care, in fact intends to whip up the masses and foment violence, or he's stupid. Indeed, if it's the former, Hannity is an Enemy of the State!!! Either way he should have angry cats thrown at him. It isn't up to Fox to censor him - it is up to Americans to reject his hateful message. What Hannity is doing is exactly the kind of media tactic that divided Germany and allowed the Nazi's to ascend to power with 30% support!

If the Fox viewers accept this, everything bad thing I have ever said about them in my most heated moments...will be an understatement.

For those keeping score at home: Ann Coulter is still ahead in the Wingnut that holds together the Western World sweepstakes, but with his thinly disguised unveiling of the Two Minute Hate, Hannity moved into striking distance.

BUSTED

Cliff May at The Corner (sorry wingnuts, no link) has been caught in an out and out fabrication. He posted the following "letter from an anonymous Marine" on the ground in Iraq today, treating it like it is current and up to date.

It is not. It has appeared on multiple websites over a period of at least 14 months. Here is one link to the same letter, dated November 2005. But here is the kicker: in the link I provide, the letter is not credited to a Marine on the ground at all, but the father of an American Marine, and the father's perceptions after speaking with his son. All one needs to do to put the lie to Cliff May's post is Google the following two sentences complete with quotes:

"The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted" --and-- "According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively."

The whole thing is looking contrived. The "letter" has been credited to a Marine, an Army 1 Sgt., an anonymous American troop named Jordan, and the stateside father of a Marine. Yet the National Review leaves up the post. Or produce the author.

Cliff May has given them a Jason Blair moment, just in time to be considered for Boneheaded Play of the Year!

As promised, here is Cliff May's post, cut-&-pasted to live on forever even if they wise up and take it down.

FROM IRAQ: A MARINE’S NOTES [Cliff May]

The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. … Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges, in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.


Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys…?

Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly "foreigners", non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.), and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the EuphratesRiver that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in various "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.). These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters (they have been fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt.'s, the police forces and the Army. They have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics:
When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AK's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre Gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.

Fun fact:

The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit. The new strategy is just simple: attrition. The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for inflicting civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to influence people they are trying to influence but can't reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).

The first thing our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet.


Morale: [M]orale among our guys is very high. They not only believe that they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, is that there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just can't stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally ...

Posted at 11:54 AM