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What went wrong in Iraq...
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some waygug-in



Joined: 25 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:34 pm    Post subject: What went wrong in Iraq... Reply with quote

http://wingsofjustice.com/07/09/woj07036.html

September 5, 2007

Paul Hughes


At one point in the remarkably level-headed and decisively damning documentary on the Iraq Occupation, "No End in Sight," one of the guys in the white hats, Colonel Paul Hughes laments, "There are nights when I don't sleep very well."

In 2003, Hughes, a career military man with a specialty in strategic studies, headed the Strategic Policy Office in Baghdad for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) and later the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Hughes quickly discovered that the post-occupation was being run by a close-knit group of neo-cons in D.C. with no combat experience. None of them spoke Arabic. Hardly any of them had been to Iraq, with the exception of an occasional choreographed PR visit.

Hughes worked desperately to try to keep an organized Iraqi army and police force together, and was perhaps near success. But the orders came down high from the Bush neo-cons in Washington -- led by the demented Rumsfeld and his sidekick in arrogance and delusion, Paul Wolfowitz -- to completely disband the Iraqi Army and to fire all the officials in the Ba'ath Party. A closed group of D.C. based non-military Bush and Cheney loyalists ignored experts such as Colonel Hughes and top brass at the Pentagon. Iraq quickly descended into chaos.

In "No End in Sight," it is clear that Colonel Hughes (along with numerous other specialists on the ground in Iraq) knew there were possibilities of winning the peace in Iraq � and they worked tirelessly to achieve that goal. They were roundly ignored by a group of Bush/Cheney officials who were clearly guilty of criminal malfeasance. It is even more than likely that the looting that destroyed nearly the entire Iraqi governmental infrastructure (with the exception of the oil ministry, which the White House ordered protected) in the weeks following the U.S. invasion was allowed to continue for the purpose of the neo-cons believing that they could rebuild the Iraqi economy and government from the ground up, Milton Friedman, unfettered capitalism style.

Here is a little background on Colonel Hughes, who might have helped save Iraq, were it not for the criminals at work in the Bush Administration: "Before going to Iraq, Col. Hughes had been a senior military fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. His work there focused on weapons of mass destruction and peacekeeping operations. He is a graduate of the Army Command & General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies and the Army War College with two Master of Military Arts & Sciences degrees, concentrating in Development and Training in Theater Operations. He received his undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado."

Hughes is an American of whom we can be proud, the image of the earnest, industrious, knowledgeable, helpful soldier we would like to see around the world.

To the Busheviks, he was just one more impediment to achieving chaos out of which they thought would be borne a dream of unfettered capitalism, with American companies pulling the levers and reaping the profits.

Colonel Hughes, after viewing "No End in Sight," we are honored to present you with this week's BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.


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Tony_Balony



Joined: 12 Apr 2007

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Again its all Bush. Bush gave the Iraqis the opportunity to kill each other.
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Dome Vans
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wait till Joo gets hold of this, there'll be plenty of copying and pasting going on. None of it will make sense though. Ramblings of a brainwashed american bush*ite along with Mr Mcgarrett. Joined at birth those two, shame the brain was missing.
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Butterfly



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dome Vans wrote:
Wait till Joo gets hold of this, there'll be plenty of copying and pasting going on. None of it will make sense though. Ramblings of a brainwashed american bush*ite along with Mr Mcgarrett. Joined at birth those two, shame the brain was missing.


It's a good article, probably very accurate in places about what went wrong; its a shame the writer loaded it up with obviously subjective 'Bushevics' rhetoric. I don't understand why such writers feel the need to do this, the facts alone are damning enough.
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keane



Joined: 09 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Butterfly wrote:
Dome Vans wrote:
Wait till Joo gets hold of this, there'll be plenty of copying and pasting going on. None of it will make sense though. Ramblings of a brainwashed american bush*ite along with Mr Mcgarrett. Joined at birth those two, shame the brain was missing.


It's a good article, probably very accurate in places about what went wrong; its a shame the writer loaded it up with obviously subjective 'Bushevics' rhetoric. I don't understand why such writers feel the need to do this, the facts alone are damning enough.


It's called fighting fire with fire. The "libs/dems/progressives" are not very good at taking it to the conservatives/warmongerers. In this dumbed down America (see Guns, Germs and Steel), he who yells loudest, and with the most vitriol, yells most effectively.

It wasn't until the "left" became activist that the tide started to turn. The "left" must become more activist, though not necessarily vitriolic, to end this insanity. We must energize ourselves in opposition to the insanity. That there are not marches daily all around the US is a testament to how weak American ideals are and how unwilling people are to bother themselves with self-defense.

All that need happen for evil to be done is for good men to do nothing, or so I've heard.
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Butterfly



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

keane wrote:
Butterfly wrote:
Dome Vans wrote:
Wait till Joo gets hold of this, there'll be plenty of copying and pasting going on. None of it will make sense though. Ramblings of a brainwashed american bush*ite along with Mr Mcgarrett. Joined at birth those two, shame the brain was missing.


It's a good article, probably very accurate in places about what went wrong; its a shame the writer loaded it up with obviously subjective 'Bushevics' rhetoric. I don't understand why such writers feel the need to do this, the facts alone are damning enough.


It's called fighting fire with fire. The "libs/dems/progressives" are not very good at taking it to the conservatives/warmongerers. In this dumbed down America (see Guns, Germs and Steel), he who yells loudest, and with the most vitriol, yells most effectively.

It wasn't until the "left" became activist that the tide started to turn. The "left" must become more activist, though not necessarily vitriolic, to end this insanity. We must energize ourselves in opposition to the insanity. That there are not marches daily all around the US is a testament to how weak American ideals are and how unwilling people are to bother themselves with self-defense.

All that need happen for evil to be done is for good men to do nothing, or so I've heard.


I don't think I agree with you. Michael Moore's Farenheit 9-11 film, was a pretty loud yell, with plenty of vitriol and all it seemed to do was further polarize the electorate into their camps, galvanizing, many believe, the 'moral majority'.

There are still people who are not sure where they stand, believe it or not, and the kind of language used in the OP I think scares them off, and those that enjoy the style, well, are those that already believe Bush to be an incompetent and corrupt President.

I just think that simple reason, the naked facts alone, are plenty to damn this Bush administration to history's bad books. There are so many also, that don't yet want to hear this, and such language as is used in the OP gives them all the ammunition they need to dismiss it as 'cranky' or 'loony left'. There is no substitute for intelligent, balanced, articulate writing - we are trying to reach out to new audiences, not continue to glibly work with our old ones.

Quote:
It's called fighting fire with fire.


Isn't fighting fire with fire universally regarded as a rather fruitless activity? Something which only serves to make things worse?
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keane



Joined: 09 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Butterfly wrote:
I just think that simple reason, the naked facts alone, are plenty to damn this Bush administration to history's bad books.


I agree. This is not my argument. My argument is that there are too many who can't hear such. It doesn't penetrate. It is a bit of a lie, to ourselves, that we are all equal intellects. We are not. It is also a bit of a lie to ourselves that a smack in the mouth is never necessary. Sorry, but it is. Self-defense.

To bring this to a point we often make in education, there are differing learning styles and modes. Some are intellectual, some tactile, some artistic... Each has its place, and a population with whom it resonates. You are basically saying we should take an arrow out of our quiver because all people really, truly are the same. We are not. There are people like Cheney, Cristol, etc., for whom lying and deceit are normal. Fighting that solely with politely spoken truth is how we got where we are: Both Kerry and Gore lost partly because they would not hit back.

The "right" depends on our "politeness." They bank on it. It has allowed them to eviscerate the Constitution and get away with crimes both large and small.
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Butterfly



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

keane wrote:
Butterfly wrote:
I just think that simple reason, the naked facts alone, are plenty to damn this Bush administration to history's bad books.


I agree. This is not my argument. My argument is that there are too many who can't hear such. It doesn't penetrate. It is a bit of a lie, to ourselves, that we are all equal intellects. We are not. It is also a bit of a lie to ourselves that a smack in the mouth is never necessary. Sorry, but it is. Self-defense.

To bring this to a point we often make in education, there are differing learning styles and modes. Some are intellectual, some tactile, some artistic... Each has its place, and a population with whom it resonates. You are basically saying we should take an arrow out of our quiver because all people really, truly are the same. We are not. There are people like Cheney, Cristol, etc., for whom lying and deceit are normal. Fighting that solely with politely spoken truth is how we got where we are: Both Kerry and Gore lost partly because they would not hit back.

The "right" depends on our "politeness." They bank on it. It has allowed them to eviscerate the Constitution and get away with crimes both large and small.


Hm. Not sure - its a complex one and no mistake. It reminds me of the anti-Bush demonstrations in New York in 2003, you remember, "Lesbians against Bush' where every juggler, penny whistle playing acitvist descended on New York, making constant mirth (it never made me laugh) of the Bush - vagina reference, I thought then as i still do, "This is the most inept and beligerant US president for decades, if ever, and the best you can do is call him a cunt?" There were thousands upon thousands of ordinary working people from all walks of life at that demonstration, drowned out by these flamboyant activists; the right could barely conceal their delight at the diversion it caused.

I guess I am just one for the sunshine approach, give people a reason to believe you, don't try to ram it down their throats. Reason can come in all shapes and sizes, and can be quite easily dumbed down.


Last edited by Butterfly on Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:27 am; edited 1 time in total
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thepeel



Joined: 08 Aug 2004

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm totally convinced that the reason that the right gets away with so much in America is that the "left" is so bloody out to lunch and wacko weirdo. As the article from the rolling stone said, when you go to an anti-war protest, leave the stilts at home. It makes us look like fools. Who wants to listen to a bunch of anarcho-nudists-stiltwalking-beretwearin-unemployable-outoftouch weirdos? Do not let "answer" speak for you. Do not bring Bush=hitler or Zionism=racism or "Jews deserve it" placards. This freaks out middle America. Keep the nazi symbol off the flag.

It is almost as if they want to sabotage their own movement...
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Butterfly



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BJWD wrote:
It is almost as if they want to sabotage their own movement...


Right.
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thepeel



Joined: 08 Aug 2004

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that, those of us who might find ourselves at anti-war gatherings in the 'States, ought to be communicating the goal of the protest and how it can be realized to the narcissistic show-protesters that undermine the real message of disagreement with a policy. An anti-war march is not a socializing event, and to treat it as such is deeply disrespectful to all involved.

And the dude on the stilts gets pushed over. Every time. New Rule.
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee



Joined: 25 May 2003

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dome Vans wrote:
Wait till Joo gets hold of this, there'll be plenty of copying and pasting going on. None of it will make sense though. Ramblings of a brainwashed american bush*ite along with Mr Mcgarrett. Joined at birth those two, shame the brain was missing.


Dom Vans = apologist for everyone around the world who hates the US.

By the way Saddam did gas the Kurds- didn't he? Well?

I guess you are one of those types who trades anti US information and rumors like baseball cards cause it gives you a feeling of oneness with a group.
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yawarakaijin



Joined: 08 Aug 2006

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BJWD wrote:
I think that, those of us who might find ourselves at anti-war gatherings in the 'States, ought to be communicating the goal of the protest and how it can be realized to the narcissistic show-protesters that undermine the real message of disagreement with a policy. An anti-war march is not a socializing event, and to treat it as such is deeply disrespectful to all involved.

And the dude on the stilts gets pushed over. Every time. New Rule.


First time I think I've ever agreed with B. I like the stilts rule, there needs to be a few more.

1.) No freaking masks! Adults wearing costumes to protest war..stupid.
2.) I'm sorry but those gay as# chants have got to go! " Hey- hey, Ho-ho, those gay as# chants have got to go!"
3.) Anyone who even begins to utter the H word is chucked into the nearest body of water.
4.) Hippies. You had your moment in the sun. Stay home or dress like someone I can take seriously.
5.) Witty placards should be banned. A million people marching silently is more effective than stupid sloganeering (sp)?

Can't think of any more now, but I'm sure there are some.
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Butterfly



Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Multi-coloured shapeless wooly sweaters.

Whistles.

Drag queens.

Techno music.
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The Perfect Cup of Coffee



Joined: 17 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee wrote:

By the way Saddam did gas the Kurds- didn't he? Well?
.


Yeah and freedom lovin' GOPers were all over that atrocity...too bad it took 'em 20 f*cking years to deal with it. During the Iran-Iraq War, Neo-cons like Rumsfeld and the posse had no qualms or shame in dealing with Hussein as long as he served his purpose. The second he stopped serving them, he becomes the devil incarnate.
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