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August 15, 2007
Dumb and Dumber
Dan Balz, staff writer for my hometown paper - the WaPo - informs us in a gushing front page article that Obama believes he can "unite America more effectively than Hillary":
MANCHESTER, N.H., Aug. 14 -- Drawing a sharp contrast with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama said in an interview that he has the capacity she may lack to unify the country and move it out of what he called "ideological gridlock.""I think it is fair to say that I believe I can bring the country together more effectively than she can," Obama said. "I will add, by the way, that is not entirely a problem of her making. Some of those battles in the '90s that she went through were the result of some pretty unfair attacks on the Clintons. But that history exists, and so, yes, I believe I can bring the country together in a way she cannot do. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be running."
Somehow, though, he never quite gets around to mentioning that Mr. Obama plans to do it by smearing our armed forces:
Barak Obama is showing his ignorance more and more every day. Here’s how he describes what we must, and must not, do in Afghanistan:
Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there..So that’s what we’re doing, huh? We’re “just” bombing villages and killing civilians?
Unbelievable.
Barak Obama either has no idea what he’s talking about or he’s intentionally slandering our soldiers (something that seems par for the course among Democratic Senators). Either way, he’s unfit to serve as Commander-in-Chief. No one who believes that the mission of the US military is only to destroy villages and kill civilians should ever be giving orders to our men and women in uniform. Not ever.
Apparently, his campaign spokesman fully endorses Obama’s statement and takes it one step further, not to mention two steps stupider.
Campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin said Obama was not endorsing the current Bush policy, which consists solely of air raids and bombing of civilians.The National Intelligence Estimate concludes the Taliban has become more insurgent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Cherlin said.
So our current military policy consists "solely" of air raids and bombing civilians? That, and nothing else?
Well, it must be true. After all, the Associated Press fact checked it, (is this anything like re-reporting?) and you can take that to the bank.
Looks like the 450th Civil Affairs Brigade from my home state of Maryland is going to have some 'splainin' to do:
The entire 450th Civil Affairs Brigade from College Park, Md., a smaller unit of the 360th, joined the team providing the civil military expertise. Other service members came from 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery, and the Cooperative Medical Assistance Team.The projects started by the bigade were ones that employed many Afghans giving them skills to do future projects on their own and helped the local economy by purchasing materials from local vendors. One of the major undertakings was improving and fully repaving roads, like the one from Kandahar north to Tarin Kowt in the Uruzgan province.
“An estimated 80,000 Afghans during the past year have found employment working on projects or programs initiated by Coalition forces,” said Sands. “We opened 82 new schools and most of the work was done by the Afghan people.”
However, not all of the projects were aimed at teaching Afghans new skills, some projects were just to provide assistance to those in need, like flood victims. More than $70 million has gone towards humanitarian aid and medical assistance provided by the civil affairs specialists working at the 14 provincial reconstruction team locations.
“We supported humanitarian missions, giving 50,000 blankets and 10,000 single-family tents to flood and wintertime victims, treated 28,000 people, visited more than 200 villages, and inoculated 40,000 animals for disease,” said Sands.
For every clinic established, the training of local specialists took place. Children are healthier and now may grow up without contracting the ailments that struck their parents’ generation.
In a land where 80 percent of personal wealth is tied in with the amount of livestock one has, animal healthcare is almost as important as personal healthcare. The provincial reconstruction teams have made strides in reestablishing local and district level veterinary and agricultural clinics.
Thousands of farm animals have been vaccinated and given medical treatment to prevent the outbreak of contagious diseases that has in previous years destroyed entire herds.
Another significant project involved refurbishing and reopening the farmers markets. Markets were reopened in the towns and cities of more than 16 provinces and 180 districts. The markets allow farmers to get a fair price on their goods.
Getting fair prices at a farmers market provides a sense of security for Afghans. However, economic security is only half the battle in Afghanistan.
Personal security against those who terrorize Afghans is the other half. Coalition forces placed the provincial reconstruction teams in areas that needed not only economic assistance, but physical security as well. The civil affairs teams have assisted in enabling and facilitating the training and operational employment of legitimate police forces throughout Afghanistan.
At every provincial reconstruction team, the civil affairs teams made police training a critical aspect of their involvement so that the people of Afghanistan could look upon their police with respect and authority when they were needed, Sands said.
“These training programs were established at district and provincial levels for the Afghan National Police,” Sands said. “They taught police to do their job protecting the public and eliminating criminal activities. After all, only the Afghan people can ultimately be responsible for their own security.”
And these folks are going to be surprised to learn that they have been bombing civilians.
And slaughtering helpless Afghans.
Obama. Just another Winter Soldier, healing the wounds of war and winning American hearts and minds.
The truth. It's out there, they say. It's simply a question of finding the proper narrative.
Posted by Cassandra at August 15, 2007 07:57 AM
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Comments
I sort of always thought Obama was a fidiot. Now there is proof.
Posted by: Rainman at August 15, 2007 10:55 AM
Oral Diarrhea. He needs some Immodium.
Posted by: daveg at August 15, 2007 11:25 AM
It doesn't shock me that a politician manages to shove his lower limb into his pie hole, but rarely have I seen one more willing to try and DEFEND his verbal breech births. And what's worse, his staff seems to manage to compound his error and then ADD to it.
"The National Intelligence Estimate concludes the Taliban has become more insurgent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Cherlin said."
Really? I hadn't been aware that the Taliban, the defacto government of Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2001 has managed to become more INSURGENT [in-sur-gent * (ĭn-sûr'jənt) adj. 1. Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government. 2. Rebelling against the leadership of a political party.] since that day. I mean, it's SO inobvious that a sitting government would become "more insurgent" since a time before they were deposed.
GAH!
Posted by: MikeD at August 15, 2007 12:47 PM
Welll...he is certainly not the only candidate to let his mouth outrun his brain. I *believe* he is referencing the large number of stories (generally made up, in VC's jaundiced, paranoid view of the MSM) of the appalling number of inadvertent civilian casualties resulting from airstrikes on otherwise legitimate military targets.
The terrorists certainly deserve the lion's share of credit on this, taking pains to ensure that innocents will visibly suffer at the hands of the US. However, that said, a few incidents like this, and many reasonable people would question the costs & benefits of taking the fight to the Taliban ("re-insurgent" though it may or may not be; insurgenter?) in this way.
As all successful criminals do, they use our own sense of justice against us because, let's face it, they have no other possible way of winning a fair fight with the US war machine.
Posted by: major bummer at August 15, 2007 03:01 PM
That's not what he said, and not what his campaign office said when confirming his statement either.
*What he said* was that because we didn't have enough troops, we were "just raiding villages and killing civilians" (his exact words, mind you).
Now that COULD have been a misstatement, though it is hard to see how. But then his own office stepped in to clear things up:
Campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin said Obama was not endorsing the current Bush policy, which consists solely of air raids and bombing of civilians.
Now unless Engrish is your second language, he is saying that ALL we are doing over there is deliberately killing civilians.
Which is not only a lie, but ignores the reconstruction and civil affairs components of the Bush policy. Where I come from, if you accuse our troops of murdering civilians or our government of something which is factually untrue, you ought to have proof. Does he? I provided facts to back up my statement that his statement was factually incorrect, as I always do. Why does this bother you?
And regarding "generally made up, in VC's jaundiced, paranoid view of the MSM", I don't believe I have written anything regarding 'made up' stories coming out of Afghanistan, have I? I have written about incidents where the AP has alleged things in Iraq that subsequently turned out to be poorly sourced, including copious links to numerous sources to back up my contention that the stories should not have been printed without better background.
But nothing about Afghanistan, unless you know something I don't? Why is it jaundiced and paranoid to point out, with supporting documentation, selected instances when a story appears to be made up but just fine for Obama to say something that is factually untrue?
Posted by: Cassandra at August 15, 2007 03:20 PM
"Welll...he is certainly not the only candidate to let his mouth outrun his brain. I *believe* he is referencing the large number of stories (generally made up, in VC's jaundiced, paranoid view of the MSM) of the appalling number of inadvertent civilian casualties resulting from airstrikes on otherwise legitimate military targets." - major bummer
I never said he was. In fact, if you actually read what I said:
"It doesn't shock me that a politician manages to shove his lower limb into his pie hole, but rarely have I seen one more willing to try and DEFEND his verbal breech births."
So I even clarified beforehand that I am unsuprised that 'a politician' (of which group Sen. Obama is clearly a member) would make a verbal gaff. What I specifically took to task is his willingness to defend it. When, with time to consider their response carefully, they chose to actually state that it is the POLICY of the current Administration to conduct "air raids and bombing of civilians." Such a statement is, in actuality, a bald-faced lie.
Posted by: MikeD at August 15, 2007 03:34 PM
Obama will implode, not as gloriously as Dean but he will not be the nominee. If he doesn't screw up too badly he might be the VP candidate.
Hilary is running a much smarter campaign. My people tell me she will be formidable. That is what they are saying, I think she has more negatives than me, but then who doesn't.
Posted by: Pile On® at August 15, 2007 06:48 PM
and you can take that to the bank.
Yes, I can take that to my piggy bank.
My people tell me she will be formidable.
Watch out for her character assassination squads. She is gathering the dirt as we speak, so to speak.
Posted by: Ymarsakar at August 15, 2007 08:41 PM