Soldiering on for Wesley Clark

I have come to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton is the presidential candidate most capable and most likely to withdraw our forces from Iraq in a manner that maximizes their safety and minimizes the long-term threat both to the region and to our national interests.

Apparently, these distinguished men and women have reached a similar conclusion.

Or listen to this conference call from the campaign, courtesy of Taylor Marsh's blog.

Flag Officers Endorsing Hillary Clinton for President and Commander-in-Chief, according to a press release dated March 1, 2008.

* General Wesley Clark
* General John M. Shalikashvili
* General Henry Hugh Shelton
* General Johnnie E. Wilson
* Admiral William Owens
* Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard
* Lt. Gen. Robert Gard
* Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy
* Lt. Gen. Donald L. Kerrick
* Lt. Gen. Frederick E. Vollrath
* Vice Admiral Joseph A. Sestak
* Major General Roger R. Blunt
* Major General George A. Buskirk, Jr.
* Major General Edward L. Correa, Jr.
* Major General Paul D. Eaton
* Major General Paul D. Monroe, Jr.
* Major General Antonio M. Taguba
* Rear Admiral Connie Mariano
* Rear Admiral Alan M. Steinman
* Rear Admiral David Stone
* Brigadier General Michael Dunn
* Brigadier General Belisario Flores
* Brigadier General Evelyn "Pat" Foote
* Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr
* Brigadier General Virgil A. Richard
* Brigadier General Preston Taylor
* Brigadier General John M. Watkins, Jr.
* Brigadier General Jack Yeager

Posted by Jai at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After you read the editorial that follows, please join General Clark's campaign to remove Rush from the Armed Forces Radio Network, where our tax dollars provide him unfettered access to a captive audience of soldiers and sailors stationed overseas.

Limbaugh’s Cowardly Smear

by Joe Conason
Published on October 2, 2007, in the October 8, 2007, edition of The New York Observer

The controversy over what Rush Limbaugh meant when he uttered the phrase “phony soldiers” last week isn’t just another broadcast sideshow. As the political power of conservatism declines, the symbolic authority of figures such as Mr. Limbaugh is likewise shrinking. That is why he backs away from his own words, rips them from context by selectively editing his program’s transcript and insists he didn’t demean soldiers and veterans who dissent from the Bush White House war policy—as he and his fellow partisans have done so many times before.

Continue reading "Conason: Limbaugh’s Cowardly Smear" »

Posted by Jai at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A New York Times Op-Ed by troops from Iraq:

The War as We Saw It

by Staff Sergeants (E6) Jeremy A. Murphy and Yance T. Gray, Sergeants (E5) Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, and Edward Sandmeier, and Specialist (E4) Buddhika Jayamaha
Published: August 19, 2007

Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

Continue reading "The War as We Saw It" »

Posted by Jai at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

On Monday, our nation will observe Memorial Day -- a day which is incredibly solemn and sacred, especially to those of us who served our nation with military service.

For one day, WesPAC and our friends at VoteVets.org and the National Security Network will put politics completely aside, and stand in solidarity with the rest of our nation to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or of another party or no party at all, we are all still Americans, and on this day, we should solely be focused on honoring those who died in service. We're also asking that people not protest at Memorial Day events; we have 364 other days to argue policy and politics, but this day belongs to the fallen and their memories.

Today, please consider making a donation to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (http://www.fallenheroesfund.org), which is dedicated to helping the families of those who died in service. The Intrepid Fund has already provided $60 million in aid to families, but can only continue to do so with your support.

Above all, take a day to learn more about someone who died in defense of America. If you're at a parade or prayer service and you see a veteran or military family member, ask him or her who they are honoring. Learn more about that hero, so their memory can endure. Too often, we talk about the fallen in terms of numbers. We forget, each of those numbers were real people, with real lives, and real families. The names on the thousands of memorials across America are more than letters etched in stone -- they are lives lost with honor. The best way we can honor those who sacrificed their lives is to ensure that the memory of who they were as human beings is never forgotten. Please, on Memorial Day, do your part to ensure their memory lives on.

Thank you for your support of our troops and veterans.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark
Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, VoteVets.org
Rand Beers, USMC (ret.), National Security Network

Posted by Jai at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The second in the most recent VoteVets ad series has been released today. But before you watch General Eaton, first read this from General John Batiste who, in the first ad, looked into the camera and said, “Mr. President, you did not listen.”

Off camera, he elaborated at a press conference, as reported in the New York Times:

...General Batiste said he chose to go public with his critique of the war effort only after 30 years of honoring the Army’s rules of silence. He said it was that time commanding 22,000 troops in combat, in 2004 and 2005, that convinced him that American fighting in Iraq was short of vision as well as troops.

“There was never enough. There was never a reserve,” he said.

Continue reading "More from General Batiste" »

Posted by Jai at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Don't the Republicans complain that if the American public could hear about the good stuff going on in Iraq, we would be more supportive of the president's war policy? That it is Democrats who have led the American people to believe the war is a lost cause by making sure the liberal media only tells us when bad stuff happens?

So how come the Bush administration is now prohibiting enlisted soldiers, "junior" officers (05 and below!), and even career DoD civilians -- in other words, anyone who's not a political appointee -- from testifying before Congress?

According to yesterday's Boston Globe,

Robert L. Wilkie , a former Bush administration national security official who left the White House to become assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs last year, has outlined a half-dozen guidelines that prohibit most officers below the rank of colonel from appearing in hearings, restricting testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush.

The guidelines, described in an April 19 memo to the staff director of the House Armed Services Committee, adds that all field-level officers and enlisted personnel must be "deemed appropriate" by the Department of Defense before they can participate in personal briefings for members of Congress or their staffs; in addition, according to the memo, the proceedings must not be recorded.

Too bad, C-SPAN viewers. No more first hand accounts from regular folks. From now on, you only get the sanitized version of events that the White House wants you to see.

Actually, it's worse than that.

Continue reading "They can't handle the truth" »

Posted by Jai at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Once more mega-kudos are in order to VoteVets, one of the few veterans organizations that puts the welfare of the troops ahead of partisan politics.

Jon Soltz -- Iraq War Veteran, Co-Founder and Chairman of VoteVets -- writes:

The first in the series of three ads features VoteVets.org Advisory Board Member, Major General (ret.) John Batiste, who was commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division from August 2002-June 2005. During this time frame, he conducted combat operations in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Batiste twice voted for President Bush and is a lifelong Republican. If you like this ad, then you're going to love what we have coming up in about a week, from Major General Paul Eaton. And, then the ad featuring General Clark after that. That's fitting, because it is General Clark who paved the way for other retired brass to speak out.

Now watch the video....

Continue reading "VoteVets does it again!" »

Posted by Jai at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sure, Americans would love to see their political leaders come together in a spirit of bipartisanship and compromise. BUT that doesn't mean we want you folks in Congress to roll over and give the President whatever he wants.

In a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, a whopping 70% of respondents, garnered from all political parties, as well as no party at all, said that Democratic leaders in Congress are either "not going far enough" or are "handling it about right" in "challenging George W.Bush’s policies in Iraq." This compares to a mere 23% who thought Reid and Pelosi are "going too far." Moreover, the same poll found that a full 78% think Congress should have "some" or "a lot" of influence over the direction of U.S. policy in Iraq, compared to only 18% who responded either "not much" or "none at all."

So hang in there, Democrats. Be strong, show some starch, and do what you know is right. That's all any of us can ask, and usually all we ever do.

Posted by Jai at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A tag cloud displays the 50 words used most often by a single speaker in a speech or interview, but with the font size of each word varied according to the frequency of usage. That is, the larger the word's size, the more often it was used. Common words like "and," "of," "the," and "new" are omitted. Thus, the tag cloud gives a visual depiction of those things the speaker considers most important, at least at the time and/or within the context of the particular speech or interview.

Continue reading "Tag Clouds" »

Posted by Jai at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Another "Fighting Dem," Congressman (and retired Colonel) Jack Murtha nails it:

Interesting to hear the gentleman say 'we,' 'we fight,' 'we aren't gonna give up,' 'we aren't gonna surrender.' Let me tell you something. We aren't fighting this war. It's the troops overseas... Don't tell me we're fighting in this air conditioned office. We're not fighting this war; they're fighting it! And I'm proud of every one of them!"

(C-SPAN, by way of BradBlog.com)

Posted by Jai at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)