Gates says that even though you can't trust anything we've ever said---Here's Petraeus!
By John Amato Sunday Aug 05, 2007 6:27pm
Gates made an appearance on MTP Sunday and parroted the same propaganda line that O'Hanlon and Kristol are using---it's just that he can't deliver them quite as effectively. As Timmeh notes, everything this administration and their puppet propagandists have feed the American people about the war has been WRONG---so why should we trust you now? He dryly replies that everybody loves Gen Petraeus and the wooden wonder Ambassador Crocker.
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MR. RUSSERT: You mentioned that we misunderestimated some of the divisions between the factions of the government, the Shiites and the Sunnis. Mr. Secretary, for Americans watching today, many are saying to themselves, “The administration was wrong about weapons of mass destruction, wrong about the size of the force necessary to occupy Iraq, wrong about the costs of the war, wrong about Shiite and Sunni division. Why should we have any confidence in anything they say about the future of Iraq?”
SEC’Y GATES: Well, I think that what we should have confidence in is the evaluation that Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus are going to make in early September. These men have been on the ground for quite some time now. They are the best of our professionals. They will look at this. Their report—certainly General Petraeus’ part of it—will be examined by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent to me and then to the president. So it, it won’t be entirely General Petraeus; it’ll be mostly General Petraeus. But what we’re trying to do is get an honest an evaluation of this situation as we possibly can so that the president and the Congress can decide how to move forward.
I seem to remember a certain General that wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post right before the '04 election about how great the Iraq military was stepping up...Who was it again? Oh, right...Army lieutenant General Petraeus
Nonetheless, there are reasons for optimism. Today approximately 164,000 Iraqi police and soldiers (of which about 100,000 are trained and equipped) and an additional 74,000 facility protection forces are performing a wide variety of security missions. Equipment is being delivered. Training is on track and increasing in capacity. Infrastructure is being repaired. Command and control structures and institutions are being reestablished.
Most important, Iraqi security forces are in the fight -- so much so that they are suffering substantial casualties as they take on more and more of the burdens to achieve security in their country. Since Jan. 1 more than 700 Iraqi security force members have been killed, and hundreds of Iraqis seeking to volunteer for the police and military have been killed as well...read on
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baby jesus is first
"misunderestimated"?? Is this a word now?
Hey John, why did yoiu take down the Barry Bonds story last night?
I worked for SAIC for years, and this guy Gates was on our board of directors. Read this article from vanity fair (made me quit saic) SAIC EXPOSED and you will see his loyalty is basically to his wallet.
Petraeus, phew! He can't solve anything. Can't we find some young corporal to really take charge? Like that little Napoleon fellow, he seems oddly motivated! Don't we have a General Agamemnon? How about that feisty Lieutenant Alexander?
Captain and Tennille?
I think the main reason why everyone likes to quote Petraeus' name is because they think it sounds so "Star Wars" cool.
He also admitted that they started this debacle without enough military personel..So By admitting that they are saying Gen Shynsiekie( I know I misspelled his name)Was right ........and the look on his face said alot as well
He was talking about Dear Leader's new BFF/SWN David? The guy who lost a big bunch of those weapons we paid for? The ones being used against our own troops? Damn right I'm gonna believe every word he writes.
Did Petraeus co-author "My Pet Goat?"
161803399 @ 2:
I would say thats more of a word than.."doer"....for cryin out loud.....
They couldn't do any worse than these assclowns.
I wish the Corporate Media had your memory.
They never seem to bring that editorial up when Bush or another of his minions act like Betray-Us is all-knowing.
This is it! the whole gig now is to sell the surge, hannity, rush, beck et. al. were brought to the white house to sell the how well the war is going. September is coming fast! Hannity and the rest are trying to blow sunshine up your you know what *!!!!!!!!!!!!! look for a slick sale from all of these fools, meanwhile our kids are dying for a lie!
Russert:Are you totally zoned on soma right now?
Gates: Why yes Tim,I am.
I'm remembering an old star trek...with space nazis...and a heavily sedated leader...
Man!
When the Sunni parliment quits, do you suppose it might have somrthing to do with the with the oil companies wanting up to 80% of the oil revenues. What they are fighting against is the theft of their oil'. If someone was trying to take 80% of our resources, we would be raising hell. When are people going to put 2+2 together?
Honest American People, we just want to stick the head in.
The General will say whatever he is told to say.
Please, we've heard all the Bullshit. Pull the godamn troops out NOW!
Is there some doubt that the military can fight in Iraq? Their doing the job that they were sent to do and job 2,3,4,5, etc. Unfortunately, the Iraqis no longer have a government. The surge was to give breathing room so the government could get organized. Hate to tell you, the gov does not need breathing room because it is D.O.A.
It would be nice if you could save some Iraqi lives though. No water,food or electricity. Since your going to remain fighting until our military and economy is trashed, save some Iraqi lives. You broke it, you own it.
John-stop it -your cracking me up. How about coming up with, "THE BEST OF PETRAEUS"
His rise from the ground floor to scrubbing Bush's balls. The surge......SURGE THIS!
The surge has already worked. USA Today reports that the numbers of people supporting this war has ticked up.
Come September it is Groundhog Day.
Gen. Petraeus can repeat what he wrote in the editorial 3 years ago and it will be lapped up. The O'Hanlons and Kristols and Brooks will cheer and the US will grind on until 2009.
-GSD
I wonder why no one has come up Preznit Booshs greatest hits....It would have to be atleast on the 3rd edition by now
"...and the wooden wonder Ambassador Crocker."
Well, that settles it then. If "Crockerbot2000" said it, then it must be gospel, right?
Puhlease! *rolls eyes*
Well, this certainly fits my definition of progress:
"Most important, Iraqi security forces are in the fight — so much so that they are suffering substantial casualties.... Since Jan. 1 more than 700 Iraqi security force members have been killed, and hundreds of Iraqis seeking to volunteer for the police and military have been killed as well…"
It may be simply that I'm confused and for some reason thought the people to whom he's referring are on our side.
Perhaps the new definition of victory will be something along the lines of "when all the Iraqis are dead".
"...Most important, Iraqi security forces are in the fight — so much so that they are suffering substantial casualties as they take on more and more of the burdens to achieve security in their country. Since Jan. 1 more than 700 Iraqi security force members have been killed, and hundreds of Iraqis seeking to volunteer for the police and military have been killed as well…"
Read that again, and contemplate how completely screwed up your capacity for critical analysis has to be before that passes for good news...
Well, Gates is better than Rumsfeld was....but that's like saying a bucket of piss is better than a pile of shit.
a guy @ 25:
'Sorry. Bad analogy. The bucket of piss is better, because it comes with a free bucket.
The better analogy would be to compare the pile of shit to a puddle of piss...
GSD @ 20:
So I pointed out at MyDD. But....
Five American soldiers dead since the weekend. 'Fixer' Gates and Genrul PetAss can lie and spin all they want to. That won't stop the Iraqi patriots from
killing our soldiers. Something The Colossus of the CodPiece and his Fascist puppet-masters cannot seem to get their heads around. They have been violating the 'Rule of Holes', that would be 'stop digging', for six long years and I do believe that they are about to get buried alive at the bottom.
And with the collapse of the Iraqi congress BushCo cannot even find anybody to sign the 'Oil Bill' so they can legally steal same. Time is running out on our 'Dear Leader'.
The self assured clowns will say that the Surge is going swimmingly- just as they have been either wrong or lying about the situation the last 4 years.
4 more dead US soldiers today. I repeat 4 more dead soldiers today to satisify GW Bush's hubris. For nothing.
"MISUNDERESTIMATED"??????? Is everyone talking like Bush now?????? Either "we" underestimated or we didn't. You can't misunderestimate.
you got to feel sorry for bush ,if he gets taken away and hanged before he can cause mass misery by nukeing iran his dreams of being the second bastard to kill with nukes will go unfullfilled,sigh!
President Bush is a liar. ( everybody yell Oh, really?) He said we would leave Iraq when the Iraqis asked us to. They asked us to. How come this is being ignored by the corporate press and the administration -- never mind.
Well Timmeh...it's official,when you have no command of the english language you are no longer to be considered a journalist.Tell your buddy...the one who came up with "evil doers" that the both of you don't speak english.....
I wonder if Petraeus is being groomed in case the Thompson bubble bursts and the Republicans are left with the Mitt, Rudy or St. McCain show.
He could wear his combat fatigues complete with spit shined jump boots to the podium to accept the nomination. His ordination (or coronation) could be in full dress blues.
Same players. Different Scandal.
Get it over with....get Gonzo out and the Bush Cabal's last line of defense is out...Then we can start their...'witch trial'
Perhaps we should pull the rest of our troops out and send in all these damn sub 'machine gun' contractors.
[Deleted. Blogwhoring]
What the hell has happened to our vocabulary in the 6+ years of Bush rule? Not only is everything under the sun 'amazing' and 'phenomenal' to college aged kids (and everyone whom they influence) but we now have a major broadcaster using the term 'misunderestimated'?
Please somebody, shoot me in the fucking head.
I found it interesting the body language that Gates presented as he spoke...
He looked down at the table as if ashamed, and his answers were low and halting...not the statements a person who's convinced of what he's saying.
I thought his performance was rather pathetic and if he was trying to convince anyone of his case he failed miserably...
Maybe it's time for the return of Scott McLellan.
Scott was so uncomfortably bad, that he was entertaining.
Gates just can't lie the way Scott did.
This would be the same General Petraeus who oversaw (and I use that term loosely) the distribution of weapons to the Iraquis a few years back, so that now some 190,000 firearms are MISSING.
Yes, a great planner and manager.
Trust? Please, Mr. Gates.
mudshark @ 9:
That was part of MTP's transcript...lol
161803399 @ 2:
I'm glad someone else caught this. All they're doing is legitimizing the senility of a sitting President when they use these words in colloquial speech. Either that, or they're proving that their intelligence and knowledge is equal to that of the President. Incredibly stupid and wrong in either case.
The President's MAN IN THE FIELD, General Betray-Us, was in charge of those ONE-HUNDRED-AND-EIGHTY-THOUSAND AK47's that got "lost" in Iraq.
WHAT THE FUCK? That weasle should be court-martialed!
In the US, a citizen will get SERIOUS FEDERAL PRISON TIME if found posessing EVEN ONE weapon stolen from a federal armory.
A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND AUTOMATIC WEAPONS MISSING???
Doesn't ANYBODY take responsibility for ANYTHING anymore? ONE THIRD of the weapons distributed to Iraqi units in "training" have DISAPPEARED!!
HEADS SHOULD ROLL!! and Betray-Us should be the first one on the chopping block.
Did anyone else catch that Robert Gates equated 'arming sunni insurgents' as allowing them to 'take part in the political process'?
Alright, number one: Sunni's withdrew from their political posts and the Iraqi political process in protest of a corrupt Iraqi government.
Number Two: The only political movement or political process that will be benefitted by arming an oppressed minority will that of a military coup d'etat or terrorism.
Russert is losing his game by letting that porous excuse get by him.
Re:misunderestimated
Perhaps he was being ironic?? That may be giving Timmeh too much of the benefit of the doubt, but given the context "perhaps we misunderestimated some of the divisions between the factions" may be taken in a very snarky sense, i.e. "perhaps we "misunderestimated"--i.e. performed a verb only applicable to Bush's incoherent, Yale D-student vocabulary. Translated, this would mean "perhaps you and our moron of a president idiotically missed the obvious fact that this invasion would inflame sectarian tensions in the region?"
On the other hand, it's equally possible that Timmeh is just as much of a moron as the prezdent and was not being ironic, but just being his inimitable, boneheaded self.
"Facility protection forces?" Is that code name for armed contractors? How long will they remain in country and who will pay for them?
Gates looks depressed. He should quit.
this man is utterly boring. i tried watching it, but could barely keep my eyes open after 10 seconds. yaaaaaaawwn.
John Amato @ 39:
yeah I got that John....they must be trying to start their own language..........and to think of what these guys get payed....
Dear Mr. Gates,
If by "We all" you mean you and your neocon sycophants, and "underestimated" you mean blithely fantasized beyond all plausible sense of reality, then yes, your asessment is point on.
how does someone misunderestimate?????????......
Here's the deal. We already need to start preparing for September.
There is no way in hell that Gen. Pet (as in lapdog) will say anything other than the surge is working.
So, we have to prepare an argument in advance.
I'm going with "is the arguable degree of success you claim worth the cost paid?" Will 7000+ dead and a trillion dollars spent get us TWICE the level of success? What's two times zero?"
but it's still better than "doer"...that one takes the cake.
Jesus H, ,and again about this September.
If its going to take 38 years for Afghan victory, how long do you think its going to take for an Iraq "victory" with all the shit that's happening there? I don't think Petraeus is allowed to say "global empire," is he?
Gates:
Well you and your admin dim-bulbs certainly did, but don't speak for the rest of us Americans.
"Misunderestimate."
And ye shall know them by their Bushisms.
"I think we all underestimated the depth of the mistrust of all these factions in Bagdhad..."
No 'we all' didn't DICKHEAD! Half the generals in the Pentagon and THE ENTIRE STATE DEPARTMENT knew it would come to this, but Rummy FIRED any general who said so, and George Jr. refused to listen to anybody in the State Department because they're all a bunch of LIBRULS.
Mr Secretary,
I it with a strong force that insists that this Adm has no more credibility with me anymore.
I do not see any wisdom in his judgment. He does not have the slightest notion of the sacrifices he have been asking of others only. The President has gotten in the face of America on national TV and told us that, " he is the decider". What he told us was that he will stay a course. A course of dry drunken closed mind to any solutions. Real solutions!
Petraeus and Crocker were hired by Bush. They take orders from a President that can't find the truth.
I don't insinuate Petraeus and Crocker are not sincere earnest individuals. But they do take orders from someone that has not displayed these qualities, if in fact the President has them....
Rumsfeld-Lite?
Gates is a lifeless, soulless puppet on that stage. He clearly doesn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, and he clearly doesn't care what the question is. Watching this takes all the fun out of the spectacle. Kind of like watching a boxing match between Mike Tyson and a Tyson chicken.
The big surprise was that Russert decided to show up with questions. He must have known that Gates was a political veritable so he could pour on the hard stuff and not get hurt.
"What a CROCKER" and "Da NEW GEN'RAL" made up their minds when Shrub tole them to..It is worse than ever. If it is sooo good over there now, why don't Da General go out with those that asked for them to spend some time and even extend for 15 months as long as someone comes with them. Any Takers????
or do'r or do'er....no matter how you slice it...it still isn't a word....as in evil do'r.........good mornin folks....got my fact check .org letter this mornin....hehehehe....
Petraeus rhymes with Betray us
misunderestimated
Good grief. The Bush contagion is spreading. That is not a word you dipstick!
To see the full interview, click here:
http://beta.redlasso.com/Community/ClipPlayer.aspx?i=43687bf9-4c8d-4ea9-...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/06/AR200708...
"As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn on one another once U.S. troops begin to draw down.
Three major Shiite political groups are locked in a bloody conflict that has left the city in the hands of militias and criminal gangs, whose control extends to municipal offices and neighborhood streets. The city is plagued by "the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighborhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors," a recent report by the International Crisis Group said."
Sound just like 6+ years under Bush/Cheney in the USA doesn't it...
"misunderestimated?????" Did Russert actually say that, or was he quoting Gates? Sounds like something Bush would say.
Oh, and by the way, Petraeus was in charge of those 190,000 weapons that disappeared. That's great!
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