Walter Cronkite: Our Troops Must Leave Iraq
By Logan Murphy Thursday Dec 06, 2007 9:32pm
Via Common Dreams:
The American people no longer support the war in Iraq. The war is being carried on by a stubborn president who, like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War, does not want to lose. But from the beginning this has been an ill-considered and poorly prosecuted war that, like the Vietnam War, has diminished respect for America. We believe Mr. Bush would like to drag the war on long enough to hand it off to another president.
The war in Iraq reminds us of the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Both wars began with false assertions by the president to the American people and the Congress. Like Vietnam, the Iraq War has introduced a new vocabulary: “shock and awe,” “mission accomplished,” “the surge.” Like Vietnam, we have destroyed cities in order to save them. It is not a strategy for success.
This war has had only limited body counts. There are reports that more than one million Iraqis have died in the war. These reports cannot be corroborated because the US military does not make public the number of the Iraqi dead and injured. There are also reports that some four million Iraqis have been displaced and are refugees either abroad or within their own country. Iraqis with the resources to leave the country have left. They are frightened. They don’t trust the US, its allies or its mercenaries to protect them and their interests. Read on...
The continued deaths of thousands of Iraqis and the enormous humanitarian crisis goes on despite the propaganda of victory from the right. Cronkite hit this one out of the park and it's encouraging to see him still engaged...
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Ut oh! You're in for it now!
Does anybody think that Lord Cheney and President Chimp actually give a shit about what anybody says?
I agree, but those two assholes won't care.
They are both going straight to hell.
Your intelligent arguments make you seem very samrt...Why not use real arguments and facts instead of name calling. Why not try to understand why half the country disagrees with you and maybe you will understand the methods even if you disgree with them.
Go Walt!
Thank you, Mr. Cronkite.
'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
-Lyndon B. Johnson
It's great to see Cronkite engaged, but a damn shame that the contemporary MSM has failed the American people so miserably. Todays milktoast press are more interested in staying on the Washington cocktail party lists than in reporting any real news or questioning the Bush cabal.
Good on him. Isn't it good when people speak the plain and simple truth?
This is all well and good, but Cronkite is just another in a long line of credible people who have said the same thing. The main stream media is virtually ignoring them.
Message to Walter: Please speak up before the next quagmire, when you're pushing 100 -- after 'Nam and Iraq, three strikes and you're out.
Don Davis @ 9:
You've got to be kidding me. Cronkite was against this war way before we started dropping me bombs. He was accused by FOX news of having dementia.
Funny thing folks.
Just last night on this site someone refered to Cronkite in the past tense like he was dead.
I'm glad to see he's still in action. 8)
conscience of a generation.
sage for all times.
Lynda from Australia @ 7:
True, but unfortunately, you have a majority of neo-con nutjobs who only want to stay in Iraq and could
care less about the thruth. These people make me sick.
If you don't agree with their view point, you are worth nothing. I speak of the neo-con nut jobs.
Why didn't he speak out 4 years ago? Back then, many of us here already knew this was a disaster in the making. Even still, i appreciate his comments.
King of Mean @ 14:
He spoke out 2-3 years ago.
A very wise man, passing on his wisdom.
WE won't leave Iraq without IMPEACHMENT. If WE do not IMPEACH the next president will do more of the same. It HAS to stop here. Without IMPEACHMENT WE know it will be at least one more year of PAYING for these TRAITOR'S CRIMES. Call Nancy Pelosi @1-202-225-0100 and DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.
"Moving forward is not complicated, but it will require courage. Step one is to proceed with the rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and hand over the responsibility for the security of Iraq to Iraqi forces. Step two is to remove our military bases from Iraq and to turn Iraqi oil over to Iraqis. Step three is to provide resources to the Iraqis to rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed in the war."
bout sums it up for me!!
cronkite would never be able to work in todays corporate media.
California Dave: Have YOU called Nancy Pelosi and DEMANDED IMPEACHMENT? (cause I don't think George conciders YOUR idea as doable under his plan)
It's not up to George, it's up to Congress to IMPEACH.
IMPEACH, REMOVE, CONVICT.
Uncle Walter is not a fan of the 43rd greatest president of all time, I see.
I remember when the voice of Cronkite on the airwaves was like the voice of God to America. Historians will certainly document when he spoke the truth and when he "played the game," if ever. But now the right wing is so infused with its love of power and brutality, it dismisses Cronkite as irrelevant and not worthy of consideration.
If you squeezed the integrity out of every member of the bush administration, it wouldn't add up to the integrity that Walter Cronkite has in his little finger.
Lord, how the mighty America has fallen.
huh ? cronkite wants to pull out when we are winning ??
victory to our troops !
flubb: Have YOU called Pelosi @1-202-225-0100 and DEMANDED IMPEACHMENT? Call often, tell your friends to call too, spread it around. DC business hours only.
if we are lucky, we can remove bush/cheney before they defy anymore of the constitution and laws of the USA and bomb iran. as long as they are in office we should be concerned............based on the history of the last 7 yrs.
And that's the way it is.......
America needs more TV newsmen like Walter Cronkite.
Today, there is but one that is even close...Keith Olbermann
And only one candidate calls for the immediate withdraw from Iraq.
He is the only candidate that voted against this war from the start.
Dennis Kucinich 08 - The candidate that represents the people.
Straight Shooter @ 23:
squeese what integrity out of the repugs? like in alien, they bleed acid.
Doug @ 5:
This is the exact quote that made the neocons realize that in order to control the people they must control the media. The best way to make sure that Cronkite moment didn't happen again was to own all the Cronkites. They almost do...but they don't own Olbermann.
OliverDreams @ 29:
you have it right buy the media and stick your hand up the news casters asses and work your magic!!!!!!!!!!!!they learned all the lessons of viet nam and thier useing them against us!
there was a time,if he said something like that,Presidents would tremble.Mr Cronkite needs to get back on the air.If your reading this Mr Cronkite......your country needs you and your professionalism .I remeber watching him do stories on Vietnam...and back further....JFK.
Conkrite has always been a lightweight and history won't care what he says anymore than the majority of the population now. Dream on kids. He and Dan Rather are a matched set.
OliverDreams @ 27:
kudos to Cronkite for speaking truth to power after all the decades. He is a refreshing change of pace from the beltway bumpkins who dominate the media these days
hey ...tyree......what did you think of DK's (hypothetical)choice...for VP ?....
mudshark @ 34:
you talking ron paul? barf !!!!!id take gravel first for vp!
what do you think mudshark about his pick?
#9
right on the nose.
tyree @ 36:
I think he stepped on his dick with golfshoes on
oh...nm
And that's the fookin way it is.....
Why is C&L posting 4 day old stuff. So totally Tuesday.
What a stunning report, how many US citizens can count to ten let alone count to 1 million Iraqi dead, it will be left for the future generations of US children to not only pay for this catastrophe but to live with the stigma of the war crimes that this administration has committed in their name :(
The soldiers fighting in our wars seem to feel that they are fighting just causes. I will not call them war criminals without knowing all the facts, though you will. I guess it just shows how you believe in American ideals, like truth, integrity and presumed innocence until it interferes with your political agenda.
Sure, LBJ cared about what Walter thought.
But Bush has Rush & Billo to stuff Americas heads in the sand.
Gee.
What an all powerful liberal media.
Sorta like those troop hating members of Congress.
They only discern what comes from the right.
This may be the "Week that Was". Olbermann and Cronkite united in the fact that Bush is a liar and saying so to his face. Now if their classic 'steel balls' could be transferred to the Democratic Congressional and Senate cowards, Pelosi included, this could be a holiday season of unbelievable joy carried over through the IMPEACHMENTS.
At one time, the "most-trusted man in America." Now you (younger folks) know why. Bravo, Mr. Cronkite!
"And that's the way it is," and other such proclamations in Bush's America...
fedup @ 44:
Until REPUBLICAN public calls on impeachment from REPUBLICAN Senators, then we can all go fish.
I applaud Pelosi for refusing to make you happy at the cost of a failed conviction and Bushco with a new mandate.
Paul in LA @ 48:
I have butted heads with you before, Paul, but I couldn't (reluctantly) agree more with you on this issue.
A failed Senate trial (accompanied by rulings by the Supremes who illegally installed this fascist regime, regarding the production of evidence) would allow these thugs to claim vindication and set horrible precedents that we could never overcome.
In a perfect world, Bush and Cheney would be tried for treason and be subject to the appropriate punishment. If there were the slightest chance that the Rethugs would show an ounce of integrity and fairly consider the evidence, I would be beating the impeachment drum as loud as anyone. As a practical matter, however, the chances of getting the 2/3 majority to convict in the Senate are exactly zero.
We have 'Uncle Walter', the once-'Most Trusted Man in America' delivering a message to the 'Preposterous Putz', the current-'Most Reviled, Despised, Ignorant, Arrogant Assh*le in America'.
Unfortunately, the Preposterous Putz is deaf to all but his megalomaniacal, figmental illusions, of the 'Bearded Old Man in The Sky' whispering delusional, armageddon-inducing 'instructions', thus transforming this beautiful blue planet into a Heironymous Bosch vision of tortured, maimed, twisted, dying and dead children, women, and innocent men.
We cannot hope that The Putz 'regains his senses', for he has none. We can hope that he is soon deceased, the the 'Bearded Old Man' becomes an 'Avenging Angel', and blasts The Putz with a 'Terrible Swift Sword'.
Or we can abandon fantasy, and
IMPEACH THE SOB.
This is a man we all need to listen too.
Been a big week guys.
The NIE makes fools of the beltway crowd.
Missing torture tapes reveal war crimes and destruction of evidence.
The Krongard's are interviewing lawyers.
I see a poem in the overnight thread.
I'm thinking about Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall.
Our troops must leave Iraq, we must stop torturing people, we must start taking care of the poor, the elderly and the sick, we must start educating our children again with real knowledge and quit handing them pseudo information that turns their minds to mush and makes them ignorant fools, we must restore the Constitution to its original intent giving the people rights over the government and corporations, we must hold to the rule of law and punish all of those who break the laws no matter what office they hold, we must get rid of all congressmen who refuse to do due diligence to the job of oversight and convict the criminals who have tried to usurp this country from the citizens, we must stop picking wars with countries because of our covetous greed for their oil, we must learn to live in this world with our neighbors, we must stop saying we are a "christian" nation and start behaving as though we were, we must stop allowing manipulative dangerous people from turning neighbor against neighbor for their own profit...... The list of musts goes on and on. I for one don't think we will ever get back the great country that we once were. We will be viewed through the lens of our sins and evil deeds for generations to come. We are no longer a great people. We have allowed fear and stupidity and ignorance to rob us of all that was once sacred to us.
So, he was told in August about Iran stopping their "nucular" activitities and research in 2003. He was not curious enough to request more information because he didn't really want to hear that informatione.
I'm pretty fucking sure the same scenarion took place prior to 9/11. They told him, they knew, so what. The plans were right up theyr alley. When Bush was called to testify in front of the 9/11 commission, he did, but Cheney had to go with him, closed door and not sworn up. That goes to show how stupid the Amercian are as to accept this farse.
Clinton testify to the whole world for a silly blow job. No one can see the difference betwen Bush and Clinto.
These assholes won't show up when there subpoenaed (a writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure) but as of yet, nothing have happened to them.
As much as Cronkite is respected, and liked, they will give a rat ass what he has to say, simply because up to now, they haven't given a rat ass about what, we the people, have said in the last 6 years.
Who is going to believe Walter Cronkite? In order to be believable on the news anymore, you have to be young, famale, lots of makeup, and plunging neckline. He probably has enough cleavage for FOX News right now, but ugh!
When I was a kid, I always thought Walter Cronkite and Captain Kangaroo were the same guy. They were a god.
Walter Cronkite made a powerful, succinct statement about the incalculable horrors of this war. I have been around long enough to remember the nightly Huntley/Brinkley reports. The war will end when the American citizens make it clear to the politicians, media moguls and financial power brokers that the continued course will cost them votes, money and will result in long prison sentences. Millions of Americans have made their voices heard, to no avail. A nationwide economic boycott and a purge of current war mongers and enablers from power will end the war. A military draft or economic depression in this country would cause swift retribution. There would be (lliterally and figuratively) blood in the streets and in Washington. We are on a dangerous road. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined the horror our elected politicians ( Dems and Repubs) have inflicted on the world.
27 OliverDreams Says: And that’s the way it is…….
America needs more TV newsmen like Walter Cronkite.
Today, there is but one that is even close…Keith Olbermann
And only one candidate calls for the immediate withdraw from Iraq.
He is the only candidate that voted against this war from the start.
Dennis Kucinich 08 - The candidate that represents the people.
Thank you 27 OliverDreams for posting my thoughts. :)
We should not call them the 'main stream media' because they are not. They are owned by GE and other large corporations and 'report' only the propaganda approved by the white house. There realy is no 'main stream media' anymore, just alot of shit spewing ass-holes.....
The Kucinich-Paul thing is an odd little thing, but in an odd way it's got resonance here in SC. People who would rather burn their hand off than vote for Billary are not just sporting Ron Paul signs in their yards, but they are writing letters to the papers decrying the Bush war, his erosion of the Constitution, his sullying America's reputation, the hideous deficits, etc. The true conservatives here are fed up with the mainline repukes and that's bad news for next year. If they lose the bedrock conservatives, they've lost the foot-soldiers.
Oh, and related to that. I think these conservatives would support impeachment.
I makes me want to get the hell out of here. I've lost respect for America. I only hope that Pelosi and others will stop tiptoeing around Bush and get stuff done. I mean we lost stem cell research advancement, the Matthew Shepherd Act, SCHIP...if I were Congress I'd do something about it. A rat takes it's fleas to the grave when it's drowning.
Thank you very much Mr. Cronkite. You did it agian.
With best wishes,
Enku
My heart goes out to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS that have died because of that fuck head in the white house. The magnitude of death is almost impossible to comprehend. Jesus save us from this monster.
Here's a useful link to see clearly who owns the so called "free press" or MSM in the United States that enables war crimes like Iraq and Vietnam, Reagan's wars, etc. etc. fuck et.?
http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/communications/tv/mediacontrol.html
Straight Shooter @ 23:
I miss Mr. Cronkite.
urwrong @ 32:
Cronkite a "lightweight"? How much do you weigh, soaking wet with your wingnut views? Please spare us any more revisionist history. Before he retired, in poll after poll Cronkite was considered by the American public to be "the most trusted man in America". Why do you hate America so much?
It is indicative of our times that Uncle Walter's observation on ' Operation
Iraqi Freedom ' is being totally ignored by the MSM .
His opinion falls short of the company line and the patriot propaganda that
dominates the air waves and print media ,
Walter Cronkite was the conscious of the 20th Century , but this is the New World Order where reality is created by fantasia fascists and anyone
who does not comport to policy politics is relegated to the dark room where nothing ever developes.
OliverDreams @ 29:
Sure they do. He's owned by a defense contractor in cahoots with the U.S. government. Criticism of the Bush administration was allowed once the administration's approval ratings hit bottom and the "realist" faction in the U.S. started trying to reign in the excesses of the neocon faction for their own selfish reasons (preservation of the empire). Just like the rest of the media, Olbermann's obediant silence on an array of topics is total.
The way that people fawn over Olbermann here is lame. He's just a tool, necessary for maintaining an "outward appearance of diversity with an underlying sameness" that Goebbels described as being the perfect media system.
What I feel is sad is RW opinions here is nothing but dittoed excrement from their favorite bloviator.
These times are very trying, I suggest we keep pushing and redouble are efforts, these thugs that stole the last 2 elections must be dealt with or the entire planet will go back into the dark ages.
I cannot wait to see the hysterics that Billo will give himself over to when this come to his attention. One can only speculate what tortured logic he will use to explain why Walter is a traitorous and un-american. It will certainly be entertaining.
I remember him reporting information he knew was probably untrue about the president. I remember him abusing his position to slander a public figure which is wrong whether or not you agree with the politics of the president. A true reporter uses facts. Yes, he reported on President Kennedy's death, but so would have whoever was in that seat. Not everyone would have reported false documents. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Geno in Ptown @ 2:
Haha Lord Cheney and President chimp, those are the best descriptions of those two I've heard in while.
I said the same thing 4 years ago and nobody listened to me.
(Circle motion made with neck, one hand raised)
cronkite's words are truely music to my ears but i sure would have also enjoy hearing him mention the responsibility that MSM also holds for this preemptive invasion. the silence then was deafening but the continued silence of MSM is beyond belief at this point. and it will continue until the american people speak up and effect the ratings of MSM individually. i only hope that cronkite is prepared for the repube attacks and smears that are headed his way.
According to this, American deaths in Iraq now approaching the 4,000 mark.
paul in LA
"In a perfect world, Bush and Cheney would be tried for treason and be subject to the appropriate punishment. "
i have to wonder and will certainly be watching to see if either of these two leave the united states ,for vacation or any other reason, after january 2009.
does anyone know if former presidents and vice presidents are protected from arrest and charges of war crimes internationally?
"I rise to urge the Congress to think twice before thrusting this nation into a war without merit - one fraught with the danger of escalating into something no American will be pleased with."
-R. Paul, September 2002
look out katie, he's coming after you next.
Geno in Ptown @ 13:
The irony here is amazing.
Reminds me of his Vietnam awakening of the masses.
Walter has hit it right on the head, The American Taxpayer is footing the bill for this carnage. But the people who are benefiting form this ( namely the 'free market' corporatist elite are not paying a cent. They are merely taking from both the Iraqis and the American Public. Amazing what Shock and Awe can accomplish in the name of 'so called' democracy. Read 'The Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klien. It spells it all out for you in black and white.
Walter Cronkite? Isn't he the guy who paid all that money to stop alternative energy sources from being developed off
the MA coast? Why does Walter Cronkite hate wind power??
Given the man's prestige and resonance he has with people of a certain age it would be interesting to see the results if he was to express these thoughts from a higher platform to a larger audience. Though I think nearly everyone is on the same page regarding Iraq, save for the people perpetrating it, the MSM, and a small sliver of the population with some sort of Freudian complex.
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