Public Relations War to Maintain Failed Surge
Posted by willyloman on August 25, 2007
by Scott Creighton
William Kristol recently appeared on the Today Show with Matt Lauer to discuss how well the “surge” has been going in Iraq. He starts off the interview with that same, self-satisfied “I know better that everyone else what is good for America” smirk on his face. Remember it, because it doesn’t last long. And though no-one sees Lauer as a pit-bull investigative journalist in the mold of Murrow or Olbermann, Matt did a good job of pointing out serious discrepancies between what Kristol was trying to sell and the NIE report. Near the end, Kristol is practically begging for 6 more months to “see if the surge is working”. He is reduced to babbling the same old tired talking points as if he is afraid to muff the handoff on National television, in front of his bosses.
It’s been awhile since the NeoCon pitchman got his butt handed to him like that on a MSM showcase production, and don’t think that fact was lost on Kristol. He looked as though someone just told him there is no Santa Claus. I guess when you have been given free reign to pass off your outright lies and half-truths for so long, accountability is a hard pill to swallow.
But fear not; the people that brought you the Iraq war (and other lovely crimes) are ready for anything. Even a surge of logic and honesty from the press.
Ari Fleischer is back in the game with a new wing of the Committee on the Present Danger called “Freedom’s Watch“. They are a 15 million dollar PAC that is going to push hard in the media and the news papers, the “perception” that the surge is working, contrary to all the available, relevant facts.
At the end of July, the largest block of Sunni legislators walked out of the Maliki government. They followed many others that had already stepped aside because, as they put it, Maliki was just a shill for the American occupational interests and there would be no equitable distribution of oil revenue sharing. Apparently they don’t like the hydrocarbon law either.
This week, the secular party, made up of both Sunni and Shiite members, also walked out and it looks like the entire legislature is about to fall apart. And of course, that is what is detailed in the NIE that Kristol seems to think says everything is going wonderfully.
In the North, the Kurds have already passed their own KRG Oil Laws that protect their interests from the international companies that the Bush administration is trying desperately to hand over Iraq’s oil to. Is it a coincidence that they had a huge attack there just last week or that the Americans “accidentally” killed scores of Kurdish citizens in a flubbed strike? In Baghdad they say that the Kurds have overstepped their boundaries by looking to set deals with smaller, local companies rather than dealing with the big-boys set up thru the Hydrocarbon Law.
There is an excellent article in the New York Times about the cluster fuck that this government is becoming. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested what the situation with the Iraqi Government is really like.
And if you’re interested in the truth about the situation on the ground for our “surging” troops, have a look at this article in the New York Times called “The War as We Saw It” written by several members of the US armed services on the back end of their most recent deployment.
It is a fascinating and very personal look at the situation on the ground in Iraq. So personal, in fact, that one of the authors was shot in the head during a patrol as they were in the process of writing it. That soldier survived, thankfully, and to my knowledge, is still recovering back in the states.
So with all of this and so much more coming out now, right before the congress comes back to session, Kristol sits in a chair on live television and tries to spin-up the success of the surge. Begging for more time.
More time to keep pouring hundreds of billions into this clearly devolving situation and countless cases of fraud, graft, theft, malfeasance, over-billing, black-market weapons sales, mis-appropriations, no-bid contracts, missing cash, inflated numbers, inferior services, substandard equipment for the troops, cost-plus contracts, imprisoned whistle-blowers, and record setting stock prices for the defense contractors and war profiteers.
More time for the loss of lives and limbs of our soldiers over there, who went for the right reasons, signed up for the right reasons, and are suffering and dying for all the wrong reasons.
As Billy Kristol and Ari Fleischer beg and plead for more time. For the Iraqis.
In possibly the most disgusting example of revisionist history I have ever seen, Pres. Bush gave a speech to the VFW this week, in which he simply read some copy handed to him by the AEI fellows drawing comparisons between Iraq and Viet Nam.
Even though he flat out denied any connection between the two a year ago and stated that to do so would “embolden the terrorists”, Bush invoked the memory of our leaving Viet Nam and the ensuing carnage that followed. The idiocy of his revisionist statements are too vast to cover in this article. So I would recommend any other Google hit you may want to pull up.
The point is, they are going to “six more months” us to death with their lies and their spin and their PR campaigns for as long as it takes to build those bases and pacify the Iraqi resistance. There is no reason for it, but greed. And all you have to do is look at the backers of these campaigns and you see the finger-prints of the corporations and the special interest groups all over them.
And when it seems that the general mood of the people is growing tired of the spin; when the Matt Lauer’s of the gate-keeper press start to hammer the talking heads, and the $15 million “Save the Iraqis” sales pitch doesn’t work, well, there really is only one solution.
Give up and return our troops to their homes?
No. Just look at what happened in March of 2003 when the press was starting to report on opposing view-points about the invasion of Iraq. The UN and the weapons inspectors were successfully communicating the fact that Saddam posed no threat to anybody, much less the sole Super-Power.
When the chinks in Cheney’s “War of Lies” started showing up, and the people started looking like they may not support the invasion of Iraq, the next week Bush invaded Iraq before congress had a chance to repeal his authority to do so.
Iran waits on the horizon.
August 25, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Bravo, willy, well done! I’m not trying to advocate any particular conspiracy theory here, but I remember when Robert Baer (sp?), a former CIA agent was a guest on the Daily Show. He said that they had proof that the planning for the 9/11 attacks took place inside Iran, with the full knowledge and consent of the Iranian government. This is what he said. If true, then Bush, technically, already has the authority to attack Iran because the original AUMF allowed him to use force against anyone who even helped with the planning, if not the actual execution, of the attacks. If they publicly expose this link, they can act without Congress. The problem is money. Congress hasn’t given them additional money to attack Iran, so someone else (like the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq) will have to do without so that the Iran attacking force can be supplied. Keep an eye out for Military Supply units calling up reserves to start loading planes above their normal weekend duties. That may be a sign. I’ll take off the tinfoil hat now. Thank you.
Seriously, though, willy. Excellent work again. Keep it up. I enjoy reading your blog. Intelligent and well done.
August 25, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Great post, as usual Willy. It makes me sick how the Corporations and their profit are the main focus for ANYTHING getting done in this country. I have a feeling that if we can get Corporate America in hand, we will then be able to get this country on the road back to “normal.” I won’t hold my breath….
August 26, 2007 at 1:28 am
Hi, Zooey,
This is why I oppose Capitalism as being the driving force behind everything. Look, I freely admit that I harbor a certain amount of jealousy toward those who have millions of dollars. And, yes, it’s because I wish I had millions of dollars so that I didn’t have to go work for someone else. And I could just hang out at home, write stuff on my blog full time, contribute to charities I like, and never have to worry about money. But I don’t need hundreds of millions of dollars to do that. Less than five million total would be fine. So my question is: Why do people feel they need to have so many millions, if not billions. of dollars more than necessary to live a life of leisure and fun?
I really do believe that the rich have way more money than they, or their offspring, will ever need to live the complete life of luxury to which they’ve become accustomed. If they believe that America is so great, then why not help her in her time of need and give back to her what you know you’ll never need out of that horde? Is being the only one in your income bracket to have some fancy toy so important that a child should get sick and die of something a vaccination shot would have prevented? Do people really have to die so that some rich prick, who lives off investments and doesn’t work a day in his life, gets to have even more unearned money, taxed at a rate less than you and I pay? What is wrong with our society that we alow this to happen?
I’m tired of hearing Capitalist Pigs (like Fox’s Jonathan Head-something) claim that “The Market” will solve any problem we have in this country. No need to have government force us toward a Global Warming solution, “The Market” will take care of that. When it becomes profitable to sell alternative energy sources, then we’ll shift to it. Healthcare costs (or, rather, what they cr=harge for it) way too high? Don’t worry. Patients will stop going to hospitals they can’t afford. This will forcwe them to lower their charges. The flaw in this kind of thinking is that “The Market” doesn’t solve problems in a way that’s best for everyone (meaning success-wise as far as effectiveness in addressing the problem), but only for “solutions” that are profitable, because profit and loss is the most important aspect of business. If we have to spend several hundred billion of the wealthiest families’ money to save all of humanity, then screw them, do it!
August 26, 2007 at 2:09 am
As soon as one speaks of things like this, they always jump right to the “class warfare” scenario. But the truth is often hidden within the sound bite spin. What I think they are saying, is that class warfare is the only way these elites will relinquish their hold on what they have.
This money provides them untold power over the rest of us. We are electing sons and daughters of Senators and Govenors and Presidents every year because their families have the influence and the access to media coverage, that decent average people who wish to serve their communities, do not have.
This excess of wealth affords them the homes and the security, but it also buys them access to power. And for the most part, the have no misconceptions about how that money was created; either on the backs of their workers or by creating misery for others in the process. But the bottom line is all there is, and they can sleep at night on fine linens without any regard for the suffering they have caused.
These people are the worst possible selections to run government because they are disassociated from the people in body and empathy. They are pure capitalists posing as heros. They take classes and learn how to appear sympathetic.
In the old Soviet Union, any one could be criticized to a point. But not the system itself. If you questioned the party of the communist system, you were locked away because it is the idea of disent that would weaken the party. I venture to say, that is where we are now.
August 26, 2007 at 6:18 pm
You’re right, Wayne. They have more money then they could ever dream of spending, but I really don’t think that’s the real issue. When you have that much money, and keep grabbing for more and more, you have bought POWER. Something money should never be able to buy.
August 27, 2007 at 3:36 pm
In the old Soviet Union, any one could be criticized to a point. But not the system itself. If you questioned the party of the communist system, you were locked away because it is the idea of disent that would weaken the party. I venture to say, that is where we are now.
Comment by willyloman
Indeed. To even question our leadership during a “time of war” is treated as “weakening” our government. Never mind the FACT that it is an illegal war (Iraq), with no popular support, for which they had to lie to get us to go along, and for which they have no clear objective or basis for determinging when it will end once and for all. And, somehow, not supporting them is weakening us?
Zooey,
Although I haven’t thought this out completely, I am beginning to suspect that because of the simple fact that everything in our society is driven by capitalism, the rich have so much power. Think about this for a moment (but not too long or my theory mught fall apart :)), what is it about our society that they can’t control? The parts that don’t involve money. You need a ride to the store? You could call a cab, and the cab driver and owner of that cab business will get some money for themselves. But if you call a friend who charges you nothing but the enjoyment of your company, then the rich people get nothing out of that. We definitely need to start finding ways to replace capitalism with altruism. Imagine healthcare driven by altruism and not capitalism. Do you think that we have such a shortage of good, decent people who want to go into the healthcare fields that if the prospect of being able to make boatloads of money out of it were removed, we wouldn’t have enough people left who want to be doctors and nurses (not that nurses are in it for the money)? I hope not. I’m not greedy. I don’t want billions of dollars. I don’t want “everything”. I want just enough money so I wouldn’t have to work for someone else, and I could spend my time trying to help all of humanity through my ideas or my silly writings.
I think we can take power away from the super rich if there are more and mroe things their money can’t buy. Like friendship, and a humane attitude towards others. We can also take it away by taxing them back to the Stone Age! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! (Try driving around in a Ford Taurus, ya humps!)
August 27, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I would be thankful for a Taurus right now. But the bastards on the bus! Or better yet, under it.
I agree 100% Wayne. And there are capitolist societies that work within a socialistic framework. Remember, every other industrialized nation has universal health care. Most have free education through college. Where do we fit on the health care list or on the education level lists for that matter?
This isn’t capitalism anymore. Most of the industrialised nations are capitalist systems. This is something altogether different, and I wish I had the education enough to know what it is. But in my mind, it is getting very close to the same system that China has. Whatever it is, it is out of control. And if the only way to regain control is to crash it, I say “just let go”. (extra points if you know where that quote is from)
August 27, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Wayne,
Humans are not naturally driven to be altruistic. It’s a learned response like empathy.
Both of those qualities are seriously lacking in the “Me Generation.”
People tend to do what is easy. It’s easy to be selfish and hateful in the world today. It’s much more difficult to look outside ourselves, and actually be willing or even able to see the pain or agony of other beings.
Having said that, humans are able to find altruism within themselves, and are able to learn empathy for one another, if they so choose.