Lindsey Graham throws Lt. Gen. Sanchez under the Bus: "...his criticism is a bit astounding to me given his role in the war itself."
By John Amato Saturday Oct 13, 2007 8:30pm
Let the GOP attacks begin! Sen. Lindsey Graham wasted no time reminding the American people how awful retired General Sanchez' tenure was in Iraq. He joined Blitzer this morning and commented about the General after he came out and criticized the Iraq war policy. The key phrase you'll hear is that they appreciate his service, but....I wonder if Graham violated the Cornyn amendment?
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Sanchez: There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," he told reporters in Arlington, Virginia.
GRAHAM: I appreciate his service, but Abu Ghraib got out of control under his watch, the war in general got out of control under his watch. And it's not time to blame people, but his criticism is a bit astounding to me given his role in the war itself.---They were poorly trained. They got overwhelmed by circumstance. And we certainly didn't have situational awareness on his watch.
The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on. As far as I'm concerned, he was part of that mistake by being a commander who did not express now -- then what he's saying now. And I know he was asked because I asked him.
Krauthammer on FNS this morning compared his skills to that of General McClellan of the Union army during the civil war: "He chronically overestimated the strength of enemy units and was reluctant to apply principles of mass, frequently leaving large portions of his army unengaged at decisive points." Full transcript via CNN below the fold.
Cornyn Amdt. No. 2934: "To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.
BLITZER: You just came back from Iraq, Senator Graham. You were on active duty as a reserve lawyer in the U.S. military and you've been a big defender of this so-called surge strategy, saying the signs are positive, that it seems to be working right now, it just needs more time. He says it's not working. I wonder if you want to respond to that.
GRAHAM: I would like to by putting it in context that I was also one of the biggest critics of the old strategy that General Sanchez and others implemented. I cannot tell you how many times I directly asked General Sanchez, "Do we have enough troops to do the job here?"
Abu Ghraib happened on his watch. There were 600 people in the prison in August. By October there were 6,000. We obviously did not have enough people on the ground for years in Iraq. The security situation deteriorated.
Finally, we are getting it right. The surge has been successful beyond my expectations. Local reconciliation, politically, is ongoing in Iraq. Now you've got Shia groups turning against the Mahdi Army as the Sunnis did in Anbar.
But the big problem is in Baghdad. And security is better, but we have not had political breakthroughs in Baghdad. We have at the local level and I hope it will reach Baghdad soon. It is much better after the surge than it was before.
BLITZER: Well, let me just pinpoint to you, Senator Graham, are you suggesting that this criticism that we're now hearing from General Sanchez is what? Payback time because he was denied a fourth star as a result of the investigation of Abu Ghraib?
GRAHAM: I don't want to put any motives on what he's saying. I just want to put in context of what he's saying. He was on the ground for well over a year there, and I know Senator McCain and myself point-blank asked him and Bremer, "Do you have enough people over here?"
Because every time we would go back, Wolf, it would be worse than the time before. And I do understand what happened at Abu Ghraib. We didn't have enough people there to handle the situation. They were poorly trained. They got overwhelmed by circumstance. And we certainly didn't have situational awareness on his watch.
The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on. As far as I'm concerned, he was part of that mistake by being a commander who did not express now -- then what he's saying now. And I know he was asked because I asked him.
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History record that Linsey Graham is a bootlicking, asskissing, bushevik, thug and part of the crime family. Why does he hate the military?
They would happily eat their own young - after violating them first - for vengeance or profit.
Oh, and BTW, Lindsay Graham is a tool.....a big closted tool.
You forgot that he is probably a "Craigian" gooper as well. Hypocrite wide stance jackass.
Lindsey's right - absolutely nobody anywhere has made any mistakes along the way.
Do you think we can find some comments from Huckaberry supporting the gobbledy-gook that sanchez was spouting a few years ago?
And in 2008, when retired General Dave Petraus starts criticizing the war effort, he will be the new Sanchez
The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on.
Yeah. Like goin' in in the first place. But thanks fer pointin' that out, Senator Obvious.
Uh, weren't you a senator when all those bad things were happening?
The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on.
The mistakes were made by Rumsfeld et al. Shinseki (sp) said we needed more troops so he was out. Others that made similar claims were also ignored. There were a lot of Generals that tried to fight what that asshole Bremer did to no avail. Graham Cracker is forgetting who was in charge. Mistakes were made, there is no doubt, but they came from the very top.
In Lindsey 'AssClown' Graham's universe it's NEVER time to blame anyone....
Is it ya mealy mouthed tool of the rich Hitler wannabe who inhabits the White House.
Got a news flash for ya fucktard of the ReichWing....The time for blame is comin' right up. What do you think Democrats are gonna run on in 2008?
And look, look, looky!
That's a target painted on yer buttcheeks.
Bend over and git ready 'cause a whole lotta hurt in comin' yer way.
Is Lindsey Graham *ever* going to come out of the closet?
Who exactly has certified Krauthammer any type of military authority? He throws in some book-learned terms and pretends that his military analysis from the comfort of DC is equal to Sanchez' experience on the ground.
As usual, the GOP propaganda machine seems to have mastered the rhetorical trick of "heads, I win; tails, you lose."
Sanchez misled us, under Bush's orders. We can't possibly believe him NOW despite the confirmation of his criticisms in the intervening years.
Why can't the Dems learn these propagandistic tricks? Why are they constantly Charlie Brown being suckered by Lucy?
CG @ 4:
Doesn't he know that Condi already admitted 'mistakes were made'?
She bought her last Jimmy Choos in the wrong color. Georgy doesn't like 'em.
Because every time we would go back, Wolf, it would be worse than the time before.
But, what about the countless times the reich-wingers told us that things were getting better and we were making progress....even before the surge?
Abu Ghraib happened on his watch. There were 600 people in the prison in August. By October there were 6,000. We obviously did not have enough people on the ground for years in Iraq. The security situation deteriorated.
it also happened on herr dubyah's watch, rummy's watch, cheney's watch, rice's watch, etc., etc., etc
When will these generals realize they have been made the scapegoats for everything that has gone wrong with this war?
Let's see if they can muster up an Article 32 hearing for 700,000 soldiers, sailors and marines who just refuse to deploy or continue to fight a ghost enemy.
A.Citizen @ 13:
lol. Speaking of wardrobe malfunctions, didn't Janet Jackson play Condi on SNL?
Sanchez: There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight,” he told reporters in Arlington, Virginia.
you guys might want to edit the transcript...he (of course) says iraq in america.
god darn it "says iraq not america
opps my bad...boy is my face red :(
Grahame in a nutshell: "Sanchez is against the war, is Out with the admin, so I can blame him for all of the problems of the war. But I want to make sure that the In guy, Petraeus, is properly praised to make sure I am still in the In crowd. So I'll make sure to mention things are much better since the surge, and that the surge was carried out only because Sanchez and Sanchez alone screwed everything up."
I wonder whether Larry Craig knows if LINDSAY GRAHAM HAS A WIDE STANCE?
Lindsey Graham has known for years that this guy was responsible or a contributor for all that bad stuff that happened? And Graham didn't tell anyone about this guy? Lindsey, do you know of any other disasters going on? Why not tell us until waiting years to point it out?
Lightfoot Lindsey and Krauthammer, two whiny hindsight drivers.
graham served as a lawyer? yeah, i served in the war effort as a reserve seamstress...that's nothing compared to the valiant reserve cartoon balloon battalion--heros to a man.
p.s. graham would like to state that he is not now nor has he ever been gay.
The douchebaggery never ends.
It is okay John if they do it.
Hell, Rush is selling his letter from the Senators on EBay:
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=rush-letter...
I don't know and I don't care but, if I was in the stall next to Lindsey I'd take a very narrow stance.
well id like to treat lindsey to his next spike covered butt plug! its on the house old horse!!!!!
Maybe now's a good time for Move-on to place a full page add in the NYT criticizing the general, that should get the red-state fascist running to his support ;)
Every time one of their pet generals goes off the reservation, the reichwingers start comparing him to George McClellan. The truth is, Charlie Krauthammer wouldn't know George McClellan from Scotty McClellan.
what the phuKKK is:
?
lindsey must have been one of the many maggots that craweled out of reagans dead orffices!
Lindsey Graham is a HORSE'S ASS. They should ALL take responsibility for our mess-o-potamia. He should be laying just as much critical pressure on General Betray-Us for not training Iraqi troops... and losing hundreds of thousands of weapons in the area. They are ALL liars and theives AND WAR CRIMINALS. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
Attack ad in the Washington Times:
IS LT. GENERAL SANCHEZ A
"DIRTY" SANCHEZ
Janet @ 9:
The first mistake was the SCOTUS giving the election to Bush.The second was not having the bunch of them arrested for treason.Since then the mistakes just keep on keeping on ad infinitum.
We have to remember that Sanchez wasn't, historically speaking, high ranking or experienced enough to really fill the role he was asked to fill. Fiasco goes into more detail on the subject, but while Sanchez certainly made numerous key mistakes it was the Bush administration who put him there.
Ultimately, it is their responsibility, and they certainly seemed reluctant to blame or criticize him when he was on their side...
Isn't Graham one of those closeted Repugs we were hearing about during the Mark Foley scandal? Just wondering.....
Mmmmmmmm-eating their own.
:P
Isn't it amazing how many Republicans where against how the war was being run years ago? I never heard any Republican ever disagree with the way Bush and Rummy were running the war back then. And if any Democrat ever did they would say they were supporting the Terrorists. Revisionist History I think they call it.
Speaking of bad shit happening under someone's watch...under whose watch did 9/11 happen? I keep forgetting.
Like the "man" says...I'm not gay and I'm going home to mother now that I did my duty to Bush and Betray-us, umm, Petraeus. AND I'm not stopping at the airport washroom either.
the one thing I'm most proud of being from S C is I did not vote for this first class jerk.
Blitzer should have simply asked Graham if he believes that anyone in the military who speaks out against the war/occupation is unpatriotic or unamerican or a traitor to his country. If Graham were to have said yes, one suspects that he would have received strong condemnation from groups such as the VVAW [Vietnam Veterans Against the War] and the IVAW [Iraq Veterans Against the War].
Let’s Destroy And Discredit A Former Military Bush Administration Critic
When retired General Ricardo Sanchez made THESE REMARKS late last week blasting the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, we noted that the administration would eventually reply — and perhaps using the timeworn technique of “surrogates.&...
BaScOmBe @ 32:
?
I guess it's sort of like being a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard while your working on your daddy's buddy's campaign in Alabama
I liked Lyndsey better when she was the Bionic Woman. That was such a cool show.
Kyuzo @ 41:
Our Decider who protects us from the ahrabs was on vacation when he got the memo and that was not that clear,and it didn`t specifically say Osama was going to hit the towers; and then he forgot about it just like he and his Secret Service forgot to get out of the school when Andy told him we were under attack.The worst preznit in "his story,"er,I mean history.
I guess a side effect of planning to lose the war is that you get to call everyone involved losers.
General=Tactics
President=Strategy
If only she understood this one important lesson. Do you think our tactics have failed for 5 years and our strategy has been a screaming success, Ms. Lindsey? Ms. Lindsey is that a dick in your mouth?
just want until Petraeus retires and begins slamming herr dubyah and his "war" policy. Reich-wingers will start a slander campaign against him as well.
I simply ask Cracker & Kraut, what does Bush's butt taste like?
Sure must be good.
For you.
The war on Sanchez was started last week on FOX and Friends, the FOX News channel's "friendly" morning show. The 3 stooges who host the show mentioned every negative thing they could about Sanchez in order to wreck his reputation and belittle his opinion on how the war is going. Rather like O'Reilly's attack on Gen. Batiste when he spoke out against the handling of the war, FOX "news" talking heads are way out in front of the GOP politicians like Graham when it comes to attacking the military who speak out in a negative way about the war. It's fine for them to go after military people yet when MoveOn does it, it's an outrage. FOX News hypocrites.
Uhm, Fuck Ghraham. The only thing Sanchez did wrong in Ghraham's eyes is leave evidence behind at Abu Ghraib. Crooks and Liars, aptly named.
the following is from the trascript of the casey confirmation hearing from feb 07
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), South Carolina: To all of my colleagues who believe we can't lose in Iraq, this is our last chance. The public is going to break against us big time. The Army is broken. You've asked for more troops to clean out Fallujah, and Fallujah got reoccupied. Could I go downtown to Fallujah tomorrow as a senator?
GEORGE CASEY: You could.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, I asked to go and they wouldn't let me.
GEORGE CASEY: I've actually took Sen. Robb down there. If you'd have asked me, I would have...
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: I asked to go to Ramadi, and they wouldn't let me.
GEORGE CASEY: Ramadi is a little tougher, senator.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, the point I'm trying to make is, it's clear to me that we've never had the force levels to be claiming we've been fighting a counterinsurgency. What percentage of the population is contained in the four provinces that are out of control in Iraq?
GEORGE CASEY: I wouldn't characterize the provinces as out of control in Iraq. Baghdad and Anbar are very difficult. Diyala and Salahuddin are not out of control, but...
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: What percentage of the country would it be possible for an American to walk down the street without being afraid of getting shot at or killed?
GEORGE CASEY: Probably about half, actually, senator.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, here we are, two-and-a-half years later, half the country no American can walk down the street. We're talking about sending 21,500 more as our last best chance. And I ask, why 21,500? I've been told that's all we've got, that, if we wanted to send 50,000, we couldn't get them. Is that true?
GEORGE CASEY: I don't know that to be true, senator. I've not heard that.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, I've been -- well, that's something we need to know from the chief of staff of the Army. I believe that's all we got. The reason we're not sending 31,500, we just can't get them.
honest to fucking christ...dont these guys have access to their own transcripts?
sanchez, casey and now petraeus have all been used as tools for the administration....it sad when generals allow themselves to be politicized.
where the fuck is patton when you need him....he woulda told all these assholes to go straight to fucking hell
Former military who schtup Bush get "Rathered".
It starts with Fox. The MSM carries the water.
Watch.
So obvious.
Sanchez is one of the figures that HRW tried to put on trial for warcrimes in Germany.
While former-JAG Graham has his negative opinion of Sanchez and his comments, Sanchez is NOT a person of honor. He is a war criminal.
I've very nearly never, ever seen a more 'gay' politician than Lindsey Graham.
But that 'republican' closet is a big one... ;-)
Here is the entire submission to the court on Sanchez:
http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us0405/6.htm#_Toc101408099
(sorry, ambiguous, the quote is a selection from the submission, not the entire thing)
Wait didn't MoveOn just get in trouble for disrespecting a military man? Oh I forgot, the warmongers are the only ones that can disrespect anyone and get away with it.
(I believe "prode," under 'Stress Positions' is supposed to be 'prone.')
Sen. Gomer Pyle is a lying ass. The "surge" is not working and he knows it. He's just as big a part of the Military Industrial Complex and Bush and Cheney are. I hope the Dems. sweep all open seats in the upcoming election, then maybe we can get this thing back on track. There should be term limits for all politicians anyway.
Wide Stance Lindsey...
kasinca @ 1:
Who gives a F_ _ _ what Graham thinks.
Sly wordsmith's.
Yes. The Right. It's theirs to decide what is a diss of our military.
A small clue? If it impacts the validity of the Bush Jr. (failure) approach
to world affairs.
Someone please ring up Lindsay and let him know that Abu Grabass happened on Bush's, Rummey's, and the entire GOP Congress's fucking watch!
i can't wait for the day when graham is caught naked with a young boy
if you think you've seen schadenfreude before....i'll make world history for dancing on graham's political grave.
How many more welfare segments is Lindsey Graham going to get? He's on one of these shows every week. I wish Mike Rogers and Larry Flynt would end his career already
bubba @ 12:
Very good point. And they all seem to do it. Getting the terms down to sound authoritative is seemingly half the battle.
FWIW, Krauthammer has no military experience, and is from Montreal so never had the threat of a draft loom over him. He's also a trained psychiatrist where textbooks still quote his work on bipolar disease.
Ughhh. Lindsey just couldn't but help but throw a White House talking point into his response. So basically, Linds, the war was just one big giant fuck-up BEFORE the surge, the surge that righted all the wrongs of the past four years?
Jesus Christ, gimme a break...
as a vietnam vet this is just another example of the chickenhawk lib's going after the chickenhawk neo con's
things happened on sanchez's watch that should have been addressed at the time they were happening
how many of you chickenhawk lib's and chickenhawk con's have ever served your county in uniform.
you both are nothng more then barstool patriots
When are the democrats going to get the b...s to fight for what is right instead of looking across their shoulder at was the news media is saying or how they stand in the polls and if they will get re-elected. Maybe we need to stop their jobs from becoming a life long job for our congress and cut their salary and made it like I heard it used to be at one time; for one year at a time. You have to say one thing , Bush certainly doesn't give a d... what his standing are in the polls, but he does control what the news media prints about his administration....
GRAHAM: I would like to by putting it in context that I was also one of the biggest critics of the old strategy that General Sanchez and others implemented. (My emphasis.)
Uh listen, Lindsey. You're right. Generals do "implement" strategy. But they don't formulate it. So...whose strategy was it exactly? Lindsey? Hellooo? LINDSEY????
Did I hear Huckleberry slip in a Friedman toward the end when he mentioned the end of the year?
Is is just me or is that guy a flaming queen? That said, I don't think we can blame Lindsey for his moronic self contradicting diatribe. He's really not smart enough to think for himself. The whole thing was written by KKKarl and Billy KKKrystal, so he's just reading from a script. He can't worry his pretty little head about all the nasty realities of war while he's in Iraq, not when there are so many cute boys walking around needing a daddy.
Re Graham: And it’s not time to blame people, but his criticism is a bit astounding to me given his role in the war itself.
And, sir, your criticism of Bush's warrantless wiretapping program as being illegal is a bit astounding to me given your decision to otherwise give him permission to continue it unchallenged.
Graham: The surge has been successful beyond my expectations. Local reconciliation, politically, is ongoing in Iraq.
It is? Where? And why hasn't the White House pounced on this?
Graham, 9/6/2007, via ThinkProgress:
Within the next weeks, not months, there will be a major breakthrough on the benchmarks regarding political reconciliation. And after the last two weeks of being a reservist, you could see Sunnis and Shia and Kurds taking a second look at Iraq.
Yes Wolf, now that you put motives to what he's saying I won't. . . because I don't need to now.
Also. . . shouldn't Graham know as a member of the reserve that a military officers duty is to tell visiting politicians that everything is great and they have everything they need? Has anybody got a quote. . . in the history of America . . of a general telling a senator that the President and the civilian military leaders are screwing them over?
These people live on non sequitors.
Graham's cheese has slid off his cracker one too many fuckin' times. Get real Lindy!
Plisko @ 80:
Hell, the troops went into Iraq in 2003 without the proper protection (body armor, up-armored Humvees, etc.), and 4 1/2 years later, they STILL are not fully protected.
Miss Lindsey better be careful General Sanchez doesn't let his secret out about how Lindsey is a member of the Larry Craig club for men's room. Now Miss Lindsey was sucking up to Sanchez when the invasion started he could say enough about how great he was. Now that Sanchez is telling the truth Lindsey is all over him so to speak. Lindsey better start looking out for Lindsey if it gets to hot in the GOP people in the boys club might start talking. Look Vitter is safe he only went to Iraq for free prostitutes he got tired of paying for sex in the US.
Lindsey Graham is such a weenie, listening to him try to talk tough about supporting the war is laughable. He might as well talk about what it takes to be a lumber jack. My terrier could pimp slap him like the biatch he is.
Well wait a minute, I thought that Abu Ghraib was the fault of "A few bad apples". Is this tacit admission that the blame for Abu Ghraib lay further up the chain?
Guy sounds like an idiot. Since when is Abu Ghraib pronounced "Abba Grayb"?
Lindsey,
Has no problem smearing a troop, in favor of the Bush Adm and his Republican party.
Lindsey was quick to blame Sanchez for Abu Graib. So why wasn't Sanchez investigated ??
Because it was an black op control under Sanchez's radar perhaps. It almost sounds like Lindsey is warning Sanchez by mentioning that, "Sanchez was the top dog when Abu Graib" occured. As Lindsey is saying we'll come after you for its responsibility.
When America is at war with Iraq- Lindsey goes Rug shopping in Iraq (at taxpayers expense).
This is about as basic as I can get.
On the way to Baghdad, our troops bypassed hundreds of weapons caches and ammo dumps. Now I never served in the military, and certainly don't consider myself a military genius, but I do know a little history and for sheer stupidity that is unmatched and unparalleled - until the cops were fired and the citizenry was allowed to loot unchecked - then the military was not disarmed, but disbanded.
If there is a single soldier in our army that doesn't know how to render an ammo dump useless (hint - boom!!!) he/she should be taken out of harms way for his/her own good.
If I noticed this in the first days of the war, I can not believe that the result (the insurgency) was not an intentional plan. If our generals are that stupid, we need to approach anybody who dislikes us and sue for peace - immediatly!
Doesn't all the chaos provide a neat excuse for all those "rebuilding" contracts though? And how much attention has been given to the (variously reported at 5 or 12) illegal and permanent bases being built in Iraq.
The plan all along was "Divide et impera " (divide and conquer). The fighting provides the smokescreen for the development of a "Praetorian guard" unanswerable to anyone but Bush, the looting of the US treasury, and the permanent theft of Iraqi oil. Meantime oil prices have jumped from a low of around $10 a barrel to $83 the last time I checked - and the dollar has lost 40% of it's value in 7 years.
I could go on and on - until the men with white coats come. Just remember that these guys are fascist ideologues, yes - but they are not as stupid as you think. There is method to their madness and things have turned out exactly as they intended - so far. Congress is cowed, nobody is in the streets and we are just watching in stunned disbelief.
The time to act may have passed already. If not, the time is now!
"Because it was an black op control under Sanchez’s radar perhaps"
No, the evidence proves that Sanchez authorized abusive techniques he knew violated the law.
Lindsey Graham, a JAG, APPROVES of SSA Judges not honoring valid and legal court awards. Lindsey Graham refuses to help constituents that are involved in discrimination complaints against the US Government. Lindsey Graham allowed discrimination on his watch..... every " US AMERICAN" must know that Lindsey has allowed me to be trampled and beaten because I am sick and because I tried to work with my disability, thereby requiring me to lose everything ever I worked for.
Lindsey will be voted out of the Senate by the people of SC in the next election. He doesn't represent South Carolina. He represents BUSH BUSH CLINTON BUSH
Priceless. Once again the Republicans prove that hypocrisy rules. The Kornhole Amendment only applies when THEY say it does. I'm sick and tired of this kind of crap. I want my country back!
And all this incompetence on the part of Sanchez happened while George W Bush was commander in chief, Donald Rumsfeld was leading the DoD, and the Republicans controlled the House and Senate. But, it's all Sanchez's fault. Republicans, they never take responsibility for their actions and decisions. Never trust a Republican to do the right thing.
UnEasyOne @ 88:
Well said.
I sure hope the House and the Senate waste no time voting on resolutions condemning Lindsay Graham for trashing a highly decorated general.
How come none of these wussy journalists ever calls this piece of walking talking excrement on his previous assertions of how wonderful Iraq is going to be if we just give it 3-4-5-6 more months every time he is interviewed? Damn, I wish someone would out that stupid mother-fucker Graham. I can't believe that the lying SOB is even allowed on TV to lie lie lie . Call him on his positions, Wolf, you stupid prick. Do your goddamned job! Jeesh.....
CNN shows what it is all about... once again. It's really funny if CNN thinks that anything that the effeminate douchebag Lindsay Graham has to say on military matter would have any credibility.
CNN is such a piece of shit clownact. Why again does anybody watch them?
kasinca @ 1:
...and why does anyone give him airtime? He is spent, fini, kaput!
Will someone do America a favor and out this miserable goober, Lindsey Graham once and for all?
Now you see this is an example of "overreaching" to me...although it pains me to agree with Graham on anything...IMHO he is correct that Sanchez should have had the balls to speak up with his true observations/thoughts/feelings AT THE TIME...as should have others like POWELL...but, let's, for a moment, consider the atmosphere in the Bush administration and the oval office primarily...it was "BRING ME NO BAD NEWS"...so I can at least appreciate the difficulty of Sanchez and the other generals in being honest brokers of the situation with the EMPEROR!
It's astounding that Graham doesn't see the hypocrisy in crucifying Sanchez after the fact, while forwarding the pro-war agenda the entire time that Sanchez was in charge.
Somebody please help me out: What is the antithesis of "a stand-up guy"? It surely describes Bush, Graham, etc.
UnEasyOne @ 88:
It's almost like, gee wiz, almost like somebody was TRYING to create an armed Iraqi resistance. Now who would want to do that? It must have been Iran. They intercepted all the Decider in Cheif's orders and changed them to create this war that will take decades to end. Well, since we're already over there, we might as well invade Iran as well since they were the ones to create this war we can't seem to win. That will teach them. Then we'll be in three wars that have no end in sight.
And it’s not time to blame people,
But lets blame General Sanchez as it's obviously all his fault, not the President's.
What a little fucking toad. Can we swap Bush out with a Democrat and see how they all fall in line to protect him?
3 Points...
1.)If this was a Democrat saying this about Sanchez, we'd have to have a resolution condemning that democrat.
2.) 9/11 happened under Bush watch yet they wont take the responsibility
3.)Republicans only support the troops when they tow the Republican line and keep their mouths shut.
tony dodd @ 72:
say hero ! whos side were you on in vietnam? listen fella some of us fought in korea ww2 and other wars , what supply company were you with in the nam? toilet paper procurment?
Coffins draped in flags @ 92:
Graham: The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on. As far as I’m concerned, he was part of that mistake by being a commander who did not express now — then what he’s saying now.
Hey Graham! So now it's the generals' fault that Iraq is a hell hole? You want to talk about what happened "early on?" Shinseki...remember him?...tried to convince Bush that more troops were needed in Iraq and he was fired.
If the public stays sour on the Iraq mess (and I believe they will, given the failure of Bush's many attempts to market this war and prop up support), what do you bet that blaming the generals on the ground will be Bush's way out of taking any responsibility for this mess? I can just see him giving his final prime time address from the Oval Office, mere hours before he leaves in 2009. He'll praise the troops for the job they've done, but his blame for all the planning failures will fall in line with what Graham said above.
Now the generals in Iraq want to declare victory over al-Qaeda. Don't they realize that George Bush can't declare victory over al-Qaeda in Iraq or he would have to admit that there really is a civil war in Iraq, and the insurgency doesn't end with al-Qaeda. Also, he would have to drop the whole spurious, "They will follow us home" argument.
The surge is 100 percent political. No one in the military wanted the surge. George Bush wanted it. The surge was like plan F, Bush rejected plans A through E, because they all made clear the folly of neocon ambitions in Asia. Bush had to shop through a lot of generals before he found an ambitious little turd that would even take on plan F. The responsibility for everything Iraq lies with the Administration.
The surge is like the bride- to- be that is told that her betrothed has fled, but goes on with the wedding ceremony. The army is standing at the altar waiting for the political solution that is never going to show.
Graham is a fool. The plan of running out the clock, then blaming the next administration will work with their 29% base and no one else.
SteveinSC @ 5:
I would be willing to bet we can. But it wont matter. These jackasses have their base that will continue to re-elect them no matter what happens. There is a reason they trot out Grahm every time they need to paint a pretty picture.
Paul @ 96:
Isn't this the same Lindsay Graham that bought 5 rugs on that shopping trip to a Baghdad market with John McCain? I thought both he and McCain lost all credibility then and there.
Of course lindsey didn't "break" the cornhole amendment - he's a repuke! And we all know that they can damn well do anything, at any time.
BTW, when is someone going to find some verifiable dirt on graham and expose him for his hypocritical attitudes toward homosexuality?
BaScOmBe @ 32:
?
I believe that is a euphemism for fucking coward who never saw combat.
Once again "Rethugs can't, won't or are incapable of handling the truth" about their absolute incompetence and massive failures.
The Reslugs sure have their Sanchez talking point lies well rehearsed.
I have to admit I don't understand these comments: Graham says that the surge is working, he's obviously behind the current strategy, and people are excoriating him? I thought the right's position was, generally, to stick with the war until we win.
Any Congressional censures of Lindsay Graham yet?
Are we really going to sit back and watch our civilian leaders blame our military leaders for the Iraq fiasco?! Every single military leader who told the truth to anyone who stood behind the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld team was dismissed. We can fault them for not standing up with truth to power, but we cannot blame THEM for the terrible situation Rumsfeld/Cheney/Bush have left the world with. They were ordered to "go along or get going." If I was a South Carolinian, I would write that senator a letter with my two cents in it. He's just covering his ass at this point in time. How pathetic.
Sanchez is a "Phony General"!
Support Bush, I mean the troops.
[...] Quote by: Chaossaber314 Ok, right, and when Fox News puts up "questions" like "Do the Democrats hate America?" They're not trying to not-so-subtly insult them by saying that the Democrats hate America. Fair point. But the right wingnuts have already begun their personal attacks on General Sanchez. Since we have one or two of that ilk lurking at Volconvo, I was curious if any would be so bold as to challenge Gen. Sanchez's soldier credibility. I never claimed that anybody on this thread had used the words "phony soldier." However, you made a good point about Fox News tactics and I'll refrain from them in the future, or at least I'll provide more context so that others won't manufacture the context for me. Crooks and Liars
I still think Gen. Sanchez looks like a Nerdlinger.
So Senator Lindsay Graham was an early critic of the "old strategy", eh? That's kinda stretching "plausible deniability" to the limit, isn't it? Well, maybe if Graham wasn't so busy looking for bargains in the Baghdad bazaar, he would have noticed that this war has been a clusterfuck from "Mission Accomplished" to the present day. Man, the "extra-hot" room in Hell is going to have a shitload of Repug douchebags like this in it!
I sent Lindsey this email...
I saw the CNN interview where you trashed General Sanchez and blamed him for the war crimes committed at Abu Graib.
Your position previously had been that Abu Graib was the behaviour of a few bad apples.
Has new information come to light since then?
Or were you acting as an accessory and helping him cover up his crimes?
If you have new information that can lead to criminal conviction, why are you protecting him and help cover up his crimes? Doesn't this make you an accessory to these crimes?
Krauthammer should have his wheelchair tipped.
Well since he won't accept email outside South Carolina, I had to embed my real address in other parts of the form.
I edited a bit.
I saw the CNN interview where you trashed General Sanchez and blamed him for the war crimes committed at Abu Graib.
Your position previously had been that Abu Graib was the behaviour of a few bad apples.
Has new information come to light since then?
Or were you acting as an accessory and helping him cover up his crimes?
If you have new information that can lead to criminal conviction, why are you protecting him and helping to cover up his crimes? Doesn't this make you an accessory to these crimes?
I believe that if you do honor the law and the US Constitution that you would not choose to suppress information that would allow a war criminal to go free.
As you have made it clear that General Sanchez is responsible for the crimes committed at Abu Graib, I believe that you have a responsibility in helping to bring him to justice. Please, do not commit crimes yourself and act as an accessory to his war crimes.
Lindsey Graham needs to get back in the closet where he belongs. What does HE know about anything that happened? Something tells me that this general would know slightly more than another closeted gay senator who loves to spout off and talk tough.
Quick Linsey! Attack the messenger!
Graham is still a neo-con stooge, or his constituents don't ask him to think much. I can't bear to listen to this slack-jawed, mush-mouth. He looks like he dresses in women's clothes in private.
Graham misses the point of what Sanchez says, which is the overall strategy in Iraq is not working Having enough troops or not is a different issue. The so-called "surge" is not the issue. Sanchez is consistent but Graham is hell-bent on staying in Iraq that he'll say anything so America stays in Iraq.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has always been an a**hole (oops, hope he doesn't take offense, ha, ha).
Of course Sanchez could not say there were not enough troops. How many generals got canned for telling the Boy DICKtator the truth--all of them.
Suck on that Sen. Lindsey Graham.
When is it time to start blaming people??
Please let us all help throw Lindsay under the bus wheel. He is a shill, a loser, and everything else that goes bump in the night. If the war is so worthwhile, why don't you just ship out. I know that you can't send your nonexistent offspring.
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