Honoring My Dad

by: Glenn Melancon

Tue May 26, 2009 at 02:25 PM CDT

I was lucky.  Thousands of sons and daughters lost their parents to the war in Vietnam.  Once, when I was an adult, and after he had retired, I asked my dad to tell me about his experiences.  He simply said, "all I know is that a lot of good brothers died for no reason," and then he started to cry.  I never heard the rest of the story.

Now, I'm a dad and my son-Christopher Yves-Paul Melancon-is joining the United States Army.  He plans on being a Combat Engineer.  I wish my dad were still alive.  He would be proud.

Millions of men and woman-like my dad and my son-have sacrificed themselves to serve and protect you and me.  Do we do enough to protect them?  Do we do enough to prevent "a lot of good brothers" from dying "for no reason"?  I'm convinced our new President understands that he has their lives in his hands.

The Fading War

by: liberaltexan

Fri May 22, 2009 at 06:04 PM CDT

According to Casualties.org 4,299 American military service members have died in Iraq and March was the lowest level of American casualties (9) since the war in Iraq began. However, last month was the highest total of American casualties (19) since September of last year, and this month 17 service members have died in Iraq.

The Washington Post reported yesterday, that three United States soldiers were killed and nine were wounded while on patrol in a marketplace in western Baghdad. Also, early that day eight Sunnis where killed in a suicide bombing in Kirkuk.

In northern Iraq tensions between the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs are mounting. According to an article in the New York Times earlier this week, the Kurds have refused to recognize the Iraqi government's sovereignty over the Kurdish occupied Nineveh province. The newly elected Sunni Arab governor was not allowed to enter a Kurdish controlled town, a Sunni Arab Nineveh police chief was not allowed to cross a bridge into a Kurdish controlled area, and there have been other similar incidents in the last several weeks.

Early this month the New York Times reported on a bombing in Sadr City; that kind of violence had not been seen in the city since November of 2006. The report stated that sectarian violence had increased recently, and the victims of the attacks expressed the possibility of retaliation against those they felt where responsible.

"...the people were angry and they started talking about reacting. Some of them said that they were ready to return back to the old days, and sink deep into a sectarian war again. Until last week I would not have believed that Iraqis dared to think that there is a possibility of returning to hell."

More Below the Fold...

Dick Cheney and the "big lie"

by: Blue_in_Guadalupe

Thu May 21, 2009 at 08:37 PM CDT

Cheney managed to string together a whole series of bald faced lies about links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, Iraq's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction, the notion that when we use water boarding it's an "enhanced interrogation technique" while if anyone else does it it's torture and finally that the torture led to the prevention of further attacks rather than that they were attempts to justify invading Iraq ex post facto.

I've got to give it to Mr. Cheney while he maybe a war criminal of the first order he certainly has message discipline.

It is Official-The "War on Terror" is Stupid and Doesn't Work

by: dostephen

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 01:10 PM CDT

In a study released July 29th entitled How Terrorism Ends: Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida Seth Jones,Ph.D. and Martin C. Libicki make the case that the "War on Terror" has failed to curb the world wide terrorist activities of al Qa'ida. They examined 648 terrorist groups that existed between 1968 and 2006 looking for how they eventually ended their activities. What their, dare I say it, scientific, study revealed is that the concept of a military solution to the problem of terrorist activity has never worked. Instead, "most terrorist groups end either because they join the political process, or because local police and intelligence efforts arrest or kill key members." Not that most of the readers of this site didn't already know it but they also found that the terrorist activities of al Qa'ida have only increased since 9-11 and that they also have expanded into Europe, Asia, Africa and of course the Middle East.  

Vets For Freedom NewsLadder Is Up. It's Fair And Balanced (Really).

by: Dave Johnson and James Boyce

Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 10:14 AM CDT

"Things."

by: MeanRachel

Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:04 PM CDT

Most of the details he divulged were disturbing, albeit not entirely surprising -- stopping just short of saying the President actually lied; instead using words like "shading the truth" with regards to the lead-up to and "marketing" for Iraq.

But at one point, I heard Mr. McClellan say "I'm disappointed that things didn't turn out the way that we all hoped they would."

"Things," Mr. McClellan? Things?

Things like the four thousand lives that were sacrificed for a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the marriages, families and relationships that were fractured because of these deployments and deaths during a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the billions of dollars that could have been spent providing health insurance, education, and other basic necessities for Americans and third-world citizens alike, rather than being squandered on a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the shameless and nearly criminal carbon-copy votes of your fellow Texans like Republican Congressman Michael McCaul (CD-10) and John Carter (CD-31), who continue to vote against veterans while simultaneously choosing to support and fund a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the debt that my grandchildren will end up paying for not only the cost to America but also the world-view of our country after foolishly entering a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the 'detainees' who sit in Guantanamo Bay, devoid of their civil rights and their dignity, for no reason other than the fact that we 'detained' them during a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the innocent Iraqi civilians who were blown up, dismembered and disemboweled because of a war built on "shading the truth?"

Things like the thousands of soldiers who will no longer walk, talk or think the way they did before they were hit by IEDs fighting a war built on "shading the truth?"

Mr. McClellan's book doesn't promise to be groundbreaking -- at least, not to anyone who already believed that we have been living in the shadow of lies for the last eight years.

But to Mr. McClellan himself, I say this: My 8th grade English teacher taught me one rule of thumb about writing. You degrade your piece and insult your audience by using the word "thing." In this case, the "things" you have stood idly by and watched happen, your mouth stuffed with a twisted sock of misplaced allegiance to a President, not a Country, deserve a mention.

Next time, if you're going to tell-all, be more specific.  

Our Deployment Cycles Are A Recipe For Disaster

by: Bobby Muller - Veterans For America

Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:54 AM CDT

Why we must fight for a Democratic Majority

by: Doug Mayeux

Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 10:30 PM CDT

Tomorrow marks the next step in our presidential nominee selection process. The question of who our next nominee will be is still up in the air. One question we can answer for certain, however, is that no matter who our candidate(s) are, we must come together and support all Democratic candidates in November.

81,000 service members have been stop lossed. As far as I am concerned, the blood of any of these people that were sent back to the desert and killed lies directly on the hands of George W. Bush and his failure to manage our American military force, however, military mismanagement is just one issue of many. The ability for us to bring about real change runs parallel with our ability to elect a Democratic majority. Only through a Democratic majority can we: bring an end to the war in Iraq, finally take care of our children and schools, establish universally accessible health care, and so on.

A Democratic majority with a Democratic president - necessities for change and progress - anything else will continue the abuse of our brave service members. Anything else will fail to honor those who have sacrificed so much for us all.

I [Still] Do Not Want My Son To Die In An Unjust Quagmire

by: Glenn Melancon

Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 01:58 PM CDT

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Every school child can recite the value of history: those that ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. What lessons can we learn about the present Iraqi crisis from the Vietnam experience?

One of the most frequently heard "lessons" is that politicians should not tie the hands of the military. US forces got bogged down in a quagmire because politicians placed senseless restrictions on how to fight the enemy. If the politicians had stepped aside, the US military could have won the war.

I believe this line of reasoning misses the point. Vietnam was not a "quagmire" because the North Vietnamese Army or Vietcong were a military challenge. Vietnam was a quagmire because the US could not generate enough trust and support among the Vietnamese people. The US was seen as an imperialist power that lacked legitimacy. Does any one really believe the US, or some puppet like Diem, can RULE Iraq? I believe the US will become an "Israel," occupying lands in which the people's anger and hatred toward the occupier will grow day by day. No matter how benevolent US rule in Iraq is, no matter how much better living conditions are, the US will still be the aggressor fighting an unjust war.

How will disgruntle Iraqi's respond to a US invasion? Sit-ins? Marches? Civil disobedience? I think not. They will respond the same way disgruntle Palestinians and Vietnamese responded. The US may win the war versus the Iraqi "army," but in the process it will provide the biggest recruiting boost to the ranks of Al Qaeda, like minded terrorist organizations or simply local "patriots."

TX-Sen: Noriega Should Endorse The Responsible Plan

by: Jason Rosenbaum

Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 04:24 PM CDT

The Plan is a two-pronged strategy. First and foremost, it is a comprehensive set of ideas and concrete policy proposals to get America out of Iraq quickly, safely, and responsibly. It draws heavily from the mostly ignored Iraq Study Group Report and it points to specific bills in Congress that can be passed today to end the war in the right way.

"The Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq" is not only good policy, it's good strategy too. With 10 candidates all signed on to one specific plan (and hopefully with more to come), you have the beginnings of a real anti-war voting block in Congress. If these members get elected while promoting this plan vocally and visibly, they will have an unimpeachable mandate when they get to Washington. Because this plan involves more than one candidate, there will be stronger pressure not to cave or compromise when the tough votes come up on the floor.

So far, no Senate candidates have endorsed this plan. I think Rick Noriega should be the first. Why? Because he already has in so many words. This is what Rick says on his website about Iraq:

Rick is running for Senate to responsibly end the war and bring our troops safely home, with a phased military re-deployment that responsibly extracts our forces from Iraq’s civil wars, and brings home the funding spent on the war to invest in education and health care.

This is the Plan’s mission, too:

The U.S. does not have enough troops to remain in Iraq at the current levels indefinitely. The limitations on troop availability will demand some drawdown in the short term.29 While the current administration and its allies may seek to portray a return pre-surge troop levels as the beginning of a military withdrawal, it is not enough to reduce troop levels to pre-surge levels. We must end the presence in Iraq of U.S. troops.

This should be accomplished based on planning provided by our military leadership; the safety of our remaining troops during the drawdown period is of utmost importance. Moreover, the drawdown of troops must be coordinated  with increased civil and economic assistance, and executed in such a way as to contain the threat of terrorism and prevent an abrupt destabilization of the region.

Noriega has endorsed, in his own words, many key points of the Plan. The Plan places a high premium on nation-building and diplomacy, especially dialouge with Iraq’s neighbors, to help end the war. Noriega believes in diplomacy too:

The past eight years of foreign policy has demonstrated that isolationist approaches are really not productive, even with international bad actors like Syria and Iran. We need to recommit ourselves to diplomacy. I support the bipartisan Iraq Study Group’s view that we need to engage our adversaries in aggressive diplomatic efforts to resolves conflicts and differences. Diminishing the United States as an international influence has not been productive in terms of the state of the world.

The Plan also includes numerous proposals to help prevent “future Iraqs” from ever happening again. These proposals include restoring habeas corpus and supporting our troops with adequate veterans programs, two things Noriega slammed his opponent John Cornyn on:

“Yesterday, [John Cornyn] voted against restoring the Constitution’s basic right of habeas corpus. Yesterday, he voted against the Webb-Hagel amendment, legislation that would have provided a safety net for our troops, requiring that they spend as much time at home with their families as they spend deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. And today? He’s wasting the Senate’s and the people’s time by introducing a resolution about MoveOn.org’s ad!

Here is Noriega again, championing veteran’s healthcare and responsible redeployment, two things at the heart of the Plan:

While I have sacrificed, Cornyn rejected responsible troop deployment limits, twice voted against increased funding for veteran health care, against funding for armored vehicles, and against protecting soldiers’ civilian salaries while they’re serving in Iraq.

The Plan calls for an end to warrantless wiretapping, something Noriega had a particularly strong statement on:

On Christmas morning 2004, outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, my buddies and I drove to our base camp to use the computers. We wanted to be with our kids when they woke up that Christmas. To get there we drove through a near ambush-anytime we drove on the Jalalabad Road, it was risky, and we had an incident on our way.

That Christmas morning, I suspect the government listened to our conversations. They occurred between two countries; Afghanistan and the US. They probably didn't realize the difference in tone in my voice as I spoke to my wife and children that morning as my heart raced still from our encounter on the road. My wife did.

I fought to defend our country and our constitution in Afghanistan. I fought for the right to privacy for every Texan. Mr. Cornyn must now stand up for the privacy of every Texan and American too. We as a nation cannot grant anyone sweeping amnesty if they violated the law.

Americans understand the need for safety and the need for intelligence gathering. What they will not accept is an abuse of power, of crossing the line on American's privacy.

I would join Sen. Dodd in opposition to any retroactive provisions that allow a "get out of jail card" for violating the Constitution. If Mr. Cornyn had ever had the opportunity to have his Christmas conversation listened to by the government, on a day that he feared for his life in a convoy on Jalalabad Road, he would do the same."

Lastly, the Plan calls for a new clean energy economy to replace our dependence on foreign oil. This is something Noriega has called for as well:

Moreover, a national clean energy initiative would provide an immense new number of jobs and economic development that would rival the technology boom of the recent past.

This Plan is good policy, and the more candidates that sign on, the more powerful the mandate. Rick Noriega has already endorsed this plan in so many words. He should be the first Senate candidate to join this initiative.

If you agree, email his campaign. Tell him to formally endorse “The Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq.”

(originally posted at The Seminal)