When the Generals Speak Out, know there is more than meets the eye

When the Generals Speak Out, know there is more than meets the eye

From left, Major General Paul D. Eaton, General Anthony C. Zinni, Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, Major General John Batiste, Major General John Riggs and Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr.


Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster.

Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.

Another former Army commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the First Infantry Division, publicly broke ranks with Mr. Rumsfeld on Wednesday

Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, who headed the United States Central Command in the late 1990's before retiring from the Marine Corps.

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold of the Marine Corps, who retired in late 2002, has said he regarded the American invasion of Iraq unnecessary.

Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, a retired Army general, called for Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation in March.

Read article at New York Times; April 13, 2006 'More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation'

"a little 10-point plan" Sen. John Kerry and one point he states; Bring our troops home from Iraq

"Tell the truth.
Fire the incompetents.
Find Osama bin Laden and
secure our ports and our homeland.
Bring our troops home from Iraq.
Obey the law and protect our civil rights,"

Mr. Kerry said in ticking off his list, which also included supporting health care, education, lobbying reform and alternatives to oil, as well as reducing the deficit.

Kerry Sharply Criticizes Bush on Several Fronts; - New York Times
By Patric Healy

Published: April 8, 2006

Senator John Kerry made a slashing attack on the Bush administration yesterday, comparing it to the faltering government in Iraq and equating its war strategy with its planning for Hurricane Katrina, while also invoking Jesus as he criticized federal Medicaid policy.

Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and his party's nominee for president in 2004, has been on a political and media blitz as he considers running for the White House again in 2008. In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Kerry proposed telling Iraqi leaders to form a unity government by May 15 or the United States military would withdraw.

He spoke by telephone yesterday to a political conference in New York City that was organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, his friend from when they both ran for president in 2004.

Mr. Kerry, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, repeated his deadline proposal and spoke of civil war there as a certainty that will be worse with no effective government.

Iraq served as a thematic framework for the speech, which challenged the administration's ability to manage crises on domestic and international fronts.

"The Bush administration is wondering when Iraq will have a functioning government. I want to know when we're going to have a functioning government," Mr. Kerry said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Mr. Kerry, who was sometimes criticized as stiff and dour during the 2004 campaign, got several laughs, Mr. Sharpton said. At one point, Mr. Kerry, who has had his verbose moments, offered "a little 10-point plan" in response to complaints that neither Democrats nor Republicans have an agenda for the nation.

"Tell the truth. Fire the incompetents. Find Osama bin Laden and secure our ports and our homeland. Bring our troops home from Iraq. Obey the law and protect our civil rights," Mr. Kerry said in ticking off his list, which also included supporting health care, education, lobbying reform and alternatives to oil, as well as reducing the deficit.

A Roman Catholic who has struggled at times to talk about his own faith, Mr. Kerry also told the group that he believed "deeply in my faith" and that the Koran, the Torah, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had influenced a social conscience that he exercised in politics.

"I will tell you, nowhere in there, nowhere, not in one page, not in one phrase uttered and reported by the Lord Jesus Christ, can you find anything that suggests that there is a virtue in cutting children from Medicaid and taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich," Mr. Kerry said.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, which skewered Mr. Kerry's speeches relentlessly during 2004, responded with a verbal shrug yesterday.

"John Kerry deserves credit for continuing to take himself so seriously, despite the fact that no one else does," said the spokeswoman, Tracey Schmitt.

Taking the people toward a war to defend the Republican party.

With a 70% disapproval rate for their President, the unpopular Republican party wants to launch a war to defend itself.

The New Yorker: Fact:

"The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium."

Yeah, yeah yeah ... this from the Bush Republican party on behalf of itself.

In reality telling the nation, "We want your sons and daughters, America. We need them to defend our party and keep us in office."

There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”

War is good for who?

Only the current party in office.
Only lobbyists sucking the blood of the nation for war dollars.
Only ideological nitwits stuck in their fantasy and unable to get their foot out of what they stepped into.
Only theological political nitwits stuck in THEIR fantasy and unable to get their foot out of what they've stepped into and want to smear on everybody else

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

But not for our sons and daughters.
But not for our families.
But not for our economic well-being.

A senior Pentagon adviser on the war on terror expressed a similar view. “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war,” he said. The danger, he said, was that “it also reinforces the belief inside Iran that the only way to defend the country is to have a nuclear capability.” A military conflict that destabilized the region could also increase the risk of terror: “Hezbollah comes into play,” the adviser said, referring to the terror group that is considered one of the world’s most successful, and which is now a Lebanese political party with strong ties to Iran. “And here comes Al Qaeda.”

When rich liars blindly lead the blinded both fall into a ditch.

Arthur Ruger, reading the Sunday morning news

Marine Staff Sgt. Abraham G. Twitchell, 28, of Yelm, Wash., died April 2, 2006, in Iraq. Twitchell was one of six Marines killed in Iraq when the 7-ton truck he was in rolled over during a flash flood near Al Asad. (AP Photo/Family photo via King County Journal) 

Funded this WA legislation session; Exposure of troops Depleted Uranium

Quietly, some dedicated veterans in WA went to work on getting together a proposal for legislation funding for exposure of WA Natl Guard troops to depleted uranium in Iraq/Afghanistan. It surprisingly moved to a Bill (SB 6732 and HB 3107), to Hearings in a short space of time (Dec 05 - Feb 06) Links to both bills state House and Senate = Access WA SB 6732.

I was invited into the process to give testimony at State Senate hearings on the legislation. I deferred to give the oral presenters more time to make the case for the scientific data and there were to be 4 presenters with about 4-5 minutes each. I did, however, send in written testimony which was entered into the record.

As the legislative session was coming to a close, it looked like the bill was considered dead due to time constraints. I'm not too knowledgeable on legislative process and couldn't believe there wasn't some sort of 11th hour save, so I placed a call to my State Senator Mark Doumit'sSr. Legislative Assistant, Vicki Winters. She explained that while it appears the bill might be dead, it is not too late to ressurect it by encouraging calls from citizens to their legislative representatives. She thanked me for the call and again was strongly encouraging in how important the individual phone call is and mine was important. (At the time I thought she was just giving the polite formal response to my call - I was wrong, she meant it and it did make a difference).

I sent out email to the group working on this legislation that I had learned it was not yet dead, but still in play, and to please send out email to their networking for people to call their legislative reps and ask them to endorse this bill. Not to elevate my own efforts as we had the advantage of having a lobbyist working with our group. He had told us the bill was dead, not going to happen this session. I phoned him to get better sense of the process and to make a plea for some sort of midnight hour save on this bill. He said unlikely but again, I'm a novice, so took my ignorance directly to my State Senator's office, learned a save was possible and in renewed enthusiasm phoned lobbyist back to explain what I'd learned.

Long story short; see below; the bill was funded. Not quite in the original proposal, but it was funded and this is a beginning to a most important, ongoing issue for our troops and their families. We were fortunate to have a lobbyist working diligently with us on this and I can see the value it lent to the process; a most Special Thank You to Roger Kluck, lobbyist for the Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy.

I want to give a Shout Out of Special thanks to WA Senator Mark Doumit (District 19) and his Sr Legislative Assistant, Vickie Winters for your responsive help. It's given me encouragement in this time of a most discouraging political climate that from time to time the political process works!

Reminder to self; one person can make a difference and one by one by one, We All Can Act to Make A Difference.

Language of the Bill;

Budgeted for $150,000 for a Military Department to study the scope and adequacy of training on exposure to depleted uranium received by Washington state members of the National Guard serving during the first Gulf War or reccently in Iraq and Afghanistan.


(8)(a) $150,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal
year 2007 is provided solely for the military department to:


(i) Initiate a health registry for veterans and military personnel
returning from Afghanistan, Iraq, or other countries in which depleted
uranium or other hazardous materials may be found;

(ii) develop a plan for outreach to and follow-up of military personnel;

(iii) prepare a report for service members concerning potential exposure to depleted
uranium and other toxic chemical substances and the precautions
recommended under combat and noncombat conditions while in a combat
zone;

(iv) submit a report by October 1, 2006, to the joint veterans
and military affairs committee on the scope and adequacy of training
received by members of the Washington national guard on detecting
whether their service as eligible members is likely to entail, or to
have entailed, exposure to depleted uranium, including an assessment of
the feasibility and cost of adding predeployment training concerning
potential exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic chemical
substances; and

(v) study the health effects of hazardous materials
exposure including, but not limited to, depleted uranium, as they
relate to military service and submit a report and recommendations to
the joint veterans and military affairs committee.