Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Largest Deployment of Wisconsin Army National Guard Troops Since World War II Made to Iraq

By: Harry Waisbren

My fellow political activist and concerned citizen Patty Zahler just sent me this gut-wrenching link about how nearly 3,500 Wisconsin Naitonal Guard members are being called up to serve in Iraq in the "largest deployment of Wisconsin Army National Guard troops since WWII."

Now one would think, at least in a rational universe, that if we are "winning in Iraq" This wouldn't be needed. We are supposed to be scaling down our presence in Iraq all thanks to the surge, the courage of John McCain, and the greatness of General Petraeus, something like this would not be needed. However, we live in this bizarro universe:
U.S. officials say the relative peace in Iraq - attacks by insurgents have fallen 80% since last year - remains fragile. A lack of progress in resolving the country's political divisions could trigger more violence, especially if large U.S. units pull out, Pentagon officials say. When the British pulled out of the southern city of Basra in 2007, the resulting vacuum was filled by Shi'ite militia units until the Iraqi government sent in its improving army in March and brought the city under Baghdad's control. And Bush doesn't want to begin a major withdrawal that could jeopardize recent security gains as his successor takes office.
Blatant political posturing that puts party and candidate ahead of country is bad enough, but then we also have news that the pentagon is officially declaring our Afghanistan strategy as unsuccessful as well as reports that our country remains “dangerously vulnerable” to chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks.

And how does the media and both political parties get away with not focusing on these issues? As Glenn Greenwald notes:
We're fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we've fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc. But the Right and their media partners are striving to ensure that our election this year is going to be dominated and determined by whether John Kerry looks stupid in wind-surfing tights Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a "pig" when he invoked a meaningless cliché.
Bizarro universe indeed.

1 comment:

Patty Zahler said...

Thanks for addressing this issue, Harry.

I suggest that the Bush Administration is advocating troop withdrawal as a means of placating the American people right before the election. An overwhelming majority of Americans are against the war in Iraq and want out. Bush is talking about withdrawal to garner more support for the Republican Party, and yet, at the same time, is installing more troops in Iraq to keep the level of insurgency down. We want to look like the war has been successful, don't we?

The troops support Obama because he has spoken out against the war and wants to bring the troops home. What better way to try to win troop votes over to McCain than by suggesting the Republican Party is all for bringing them home?

The war in Iraq is one monkey the Republican Party cannot get off its back because the Bush Administration is responsible for the war. So they have to spin another good story. Like the one they told about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The Iraq situation is a quagmire that the Dems will have to clean up after the election, along with the failing economy, lack of health care, our nation's lack of dealing with global warming,and the mortgage crisis. Not to mention an all time high record national deficit and oil prices.

We need new leadership, and clearly Obama is the man