major general john batiste, in iraq 2002 to 2005, retired -- speaks out! -- new video!

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UPDATED 05.13.07:
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from this morning's 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. “Again and again, we had to move troops by as many as 200 miles out of our area of operations to support another sector. We would pull troops out of contact with the enemy and move them into contact with the enemy somewhere else. The minute we’d leave, the insurgents would pick up on that, and kill everybody who had been friendly.”

General Batiste was among a handful of retired generals first calling last year for the resignation of Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary. He says he realizes lending his name to television advertisements aimed at the president and Republican members of Congress in an election cycle is different. . . [ed. -- from the ad:]

"You continue to pursue a failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps. I left the Army in protest in order to speak out. Mr. President, you have placed our nation in peril. Our only hope is that Congress will act now to protect our fighting men and women."

. . .As described by General Batiste, the message is not antiwar; it argues that continuing the war in Iraq as a civil, sectarian conflict that cannot be won by outside forces is crippling the Army and the Marine Corps. It does not deny the danger of violent Islamic extremism, he says, but contends that the war in Iraq prevents the armed services from preparing to battle other global security threats. . .

“In the Army, you communicate up the chain of command, and I communicated vehemently with my senior commanders while I was in Iraq,” he said. Of his departure from the Army, he said: “It was the toughest decision of my life. I paced my quarters for days. I didn’t sleep for nights. But I was not willing to compromise my principles for one more minute.”

[CBS announced this week that it was terminating its contract with General Batiste as a consultant because of the advertisements. . .]

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END UPDATED PORTION
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. . .in 30 just seconds-flat,
retired major general john
batiste, a life-long republican,
who voted for bush -- and served, as
the commanding general of the 1st
infantry division in iraq -- nails
"the lie" in the televised messages of
mr. bush -- all as advised, aided and abetted,
by mr. cheney -- [the ads will carry differing
white-screens, in various electoral races]:


[h/t talkleft, for the head's up.]

devastatingly-perfect.

but now, we learn that the vice-president
has made a surprise stop in iraq, on the
way to his middle-east "diplomatic" mission:

. . .according to a senior administration official
traveling with mr. cheney, the message the vice
president took to iraq was: “we’ve all got
challenges together. we’ve got to pull together.
we’ve got to get this work done. it’s game time. . .”

funny -- has it been simply a
light-workout-no-pads-practice
to this point, mr. vice president?

in what manner do these insanely-divorced
from-reality remarks offer comfort to a mom,
or dad, back here -- whose son, or daughter, was
hit with an IED during this "light practice",
in an under-protected-light-armor-vehicle?

and which "we" should "pull together"?

you are getting back on air force two -- and
the comfort of its leather-upholstered, fully-
reclining, over-sized, cabin-chairs, and a
catered meal, before for your next photo-op. . .

our troops, otoh, covering for your failed,
sorry-ass policy of death, are taking
armor-piercing rounds -- in the green
zone(!) -- for your folly. . .

so, "we" -- are whom, exactly?