The Defeatocrats in charge

Today we now get the joyous profusion of concern about the happenings in Iraq from the leaders of the Defeatocrats in Congress. Mind you this is a bi-partisan coalition of the clueless, spineless, woolly covered bleating masses Upon the Hill, and there is no difference between the 'two parties' when it comes to the Defeatocrat infection. This minor infection may start with bland, rhetoric that uses patriotic terms to couch defeatism at the start of it, but left untreated the results not only combine the worst parts of addictions but also of early onset dementia aimed squarely at the reasoning and cognitive abilities of those that suffer from it. Thus, those that are afflicted with this malady will have limited scope for reasoning and have a functional past memory limited to less than 6 months at onset and working down to weeks or days and hours when the case becomes terminal.

Further, like any addictive disorder, those suffering from it will refuse to come to terms with their lives, their actions and the results of their actions. Individuals involved will refuse to admit to any responsibility in their actions, that they have no culpability in the results of their actions, and continue to insist that if they got absolutely everything they ever wanted in life, that the world would be a perfect Utopia. These poor individuals refuse to recognize these symptoms and, due to that, they are left open to many other opportunistic diseases and conditions that will further deteriorate their mental capabilities to the point of becoming seriously disassociated with reality and withdrawing to a nebulous fantasy construct which they will then label 'the real world'. By not addressing how physical reality actually relates to this construct and, in point of fact, going into lengthy explanations as to why 'the real world' does not accord to physical reality, these individuals will put forth no sensible plans for themselves, their loved ones or even for such things as how to balance a check book.

So based on the clinical diagnostic outlay for how to identify Defeatocrat Disease, the following is stipulated as touch points for Primary diagnostic condtions and diagnosis:

Major Symptoms

• An individual constantly criticizes the current Administration for conduct in conflicts in Afghanistan and/or Iraq.


• An individual constantly criticizes the Secretary of Defense for having *shaken things up* or *gotten rid of future systems* or *pissing off long-term careerists in the Pentagon*.


• Takes *any* opportunity that may look even a smidgen bad upon soldiers to indict the entire effort to fight to victory.


• An individual states that Vietnam has proven that all wars are unwinnable and wrong, contrary to centuries of won wars that have established the basis for Nations, liberty and freedom.


• An individual states that NOTHING is worth fighting for, ever, using force of arms.

These are the diagnostic major touchpoints for Defeatocrat Disease and any single one of these is a prime concern that the individual is heavily infected with the disease, with the necessary addressing that 'Pacifist Syndrome' also has co-indicators with the last two points. Those with 'Pacifist Syndrome' are, save for rare instances of lack of supporting or compounding conditions, coincident with Defeatocrat Disease. These are addressed in the Secondary diagnostic conditions:

Secondary Conditions

• An individual offers NOTHING BETTER to achieve victory in any conflict or war that the Nation is involved in.


• An individual states that leaving Iraq before it is stable is 'the only thing we can do' to save the troops or that it is 'unwinnable' or a 'quagmire'.


• An individual states that the United States is *the problem* in anything that happens anywhere.


• An individual states that 'free trade' will bring liberty to the world and NOT give cheap arms and armaments to the enemies of the Nation.


• An individual states that Nations cannot achieve 'peace through strength' and that is just another guise of militarism.


• An individual states that there are no individuals trying to establish an Empire that would endanger Free People.


• An individual states that money spent on the military is a *waste* of money.


• An individual states that 'mounting death tolls' indicate defeat and will not use that for *anything* else in any other circumstance to indicate same.


• An individual constantly asks - 'Why do they hate us?'

Each of these is cause for concern in and of themselves, but any two of these seen together then requires a look for a Primary diagnostic condition of some sort. Many of these Secondary diagnostic conditions are worrying as they have their own disorders associated with them, but they are opportunistic to those that are no longer in touch with the physical world and living in 'a real world' construct of their own design. It is further noted that due to the addictive disorder symptoms that attend Defeatocrat Disease, those suffering from it will do anything they can in an attempt to hide these symptoms, offer far-fetched and unlikely explanations for their actions, or offer a set of statements that is barely in accord with their constructed 'real world' and have no basis in physical reality.

As reported previously, these Secondary diagnostic conditions can also be a result of Main Stream Media Addiction and inability to actually move from one's seat when staring into any television news report, also known as Blazing Couch Potato Malady. Due to the restricted nature of Main Stream Media utilization of words longer than three syllables, these individuals have undergone Dumbing Down Dysfunction in which higher cognitive association capability has broken down within the mentality of that person and they are no longer able to reason and form cause and effect bonding of action to results. This is further plagued by Commercial Break Mellitus, which is the total shut off of all mental functions, save those necessary to eat from a bag of potato chips, during times when more active and interesting material is being presented.

Because of the combining and worsening conditions that MSM Addiction causes, they are contributing factors in diagnosis of Defeatocrat Disease, but Primary in understanding the cognitive disassociation that many put forth in creating their own 'real world' that attempts to conform to that of the Main Stream Media but has no other basis in physical reality. From that Suspect contributing sources can be diagnosed:

Suspect Contributing Sources:

• Reuters


• Agence France Press


• Associated Press


• New York Times and all affiliated newspapers including the Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune


• Washington Post


• ABC


• CBS


• NBC


• Fox News when looking at any story *not* including photogenic young women in trouble.
  
• Los Angeles Times


• Any Newspaper in Seattle


• Any Newspaper in San Francisco

Any individual putting forth that these media outlets somehow purport to offer any objective facts that have any tie-back to reality must have their newspapers stopped and news input restricted by a Licensed Professional Caregiver. Or the subject's Mother unless she is the *source* of the conditions, in which case she will *also* need Fluff Restriction Information Intake so as to remove any source of wanting to hear about starlets, missing pretty girls, anything associated with 'American Idol', anything to do with the subject 'sharks', or any program that purports to have information while held in an entertainment conduct. This specifically INCLUDES: '60 Minutes', 'Frontline', 'The O'Reilly Factor', and anything coming from any source of pulp-based, dead tree media outlet, although the articles in 'Playboy' may still be considered safe for reading with appropriate screening as to author.

To indicate the high level of mental disassociation with the physical world and reliance on a mental construct 'real world' the following are often seen in individuals suffering from this condition and that they go unremarked upon by those suspected of having Defeatocrat Disease: 'Maureen Dowd ellipses syndrome', 'un-named sources', 'senior officials' that are not on the record, any 'off the record briefing', any images originating from a conflict taken by any of these organizations, undated 'facts' in any piece, and the use of any 'retired military officer' that has been retired for more than 3 years or a recently retired officer that is using any conflict as an excuse to retire instead of fixing the system from the inside. Utilizing any of these is also seen in 'Truther Trance' in which undirected monomania will direct all of an individual's attention to one subject and be unable to actually deal with such things as physics, chemistry, or even time-based ordering of events. Many suffering from 'Truther Trance' suffer from such things 'Illuminatus Conspiratorialatis', 'Rosicrucian Ruminations', 'Templar Tribulation', 'Lone Gunman Condition' and 'Bilderberger Bargainensis'. Individuals who utilize conspiratorial 'real world' mental constructs cannot associate the problem that any conspiracy that is so capable and deep cannot do a better job of running the planet.

Tertiary diagnostic conditions are highly indicative if two or more are held along with any two of the Primary or Secondary diagnostic conditions and are heavily associated with MSM Addiction. These are listed so that a Licensed Professional may understand the basis for other disassociative conditions to be watchful for if these show up:

Tertiary Conditions

• The individual states that the draft is the 'only way to involve the Country as a whole' in armed conflict, contrary to the specific warfighting Powers listed in the Constitution.


• An individual states that 'open borders' are a right to all people.


• An individual states that unchecked free flow of individuals into the Nation will *not* include terrorists.


• An individual states that illegal immigrants should be given recognition for good work *after* doing something illegal.


• An individual states that the US should fight *wars of conscience* that are of no benefit to the Republic and puts soldiers in harms way to help far-off downtrodden people who have gotten themselves into their own mess and *will not* clean it up.


• An individual purports that the UN and bringing tyrants in to *help* negotiations actually achieves something.


• An individual states that *patriotism* is used unjustly as an argument point against them.


• An individual in an argument calls the other person a 'bigot', 'racist', 'fascist', or 'McCarthyist'.


• An individual states that the United States needs to be 'loved' in the world and that we must find ways to get our enemies to stop being 'enemies' and do NOTHING to help our friends.


• An individual states that the United States must follow 'International Law' but then cannot cite the specific law involved, its enforcement body or when Citizens actually had a chance to debate it and vote on it.

These combinations of mental disassociative conditions in the modern perspective now lead to numerous other maladies that may or may not afflict individuals with Defeatocrat Disease. This list does continue to grow in the modern world, as the opportunity offered by 'constant online presence' and 'IM Mania' and even 'Email Observation' have distanced individuals from the actual world and that is now supplemented by 'i-device distortion' in which one's own personal field of interest encompasses the individual to the point where the ability to even recognize the real world is diminishing.

While harmful to the civilian population, the first firm diagnosis of this happened with the Political Elite classes in the 1980's and 1990's. During that span the movement of that class of individuals away from actual contact with the public to media-moderated public contact that was one-way in nature, caused a primary disassociation from the American Public and fed back into the public at large to start the break-up of real interaction and replace it with 'sound bites' and 'authentic conversation' which was one-way in directivity or, when actual people were involved, so heavily screened as to nature of the individuals that no disturbing thought patterns were allowed to intrude.

As the worst sufferers of Defeatocrat Disease, Main Stream Media Addiction and even such monomanias as 'Truther Trance', the actual political leadership of the Nation can now serve as prime examples of Defeatocrat Disease. A recent letter put out by the two Political Leaders of Congress is used as a case in point:

Last November, the American people overwhelmingly made clear their desire to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. Yet, at the start of this year, you announced a substantial escalation of our military presence in Iraq. This so-called “surge” was clearly at odds with past experiences in Iraq, the wishes of the American people, and the advice of many senior military leaders, including General Douglas Lute, your “war czar” nominee. Nevertheless, you proceeded to call up thousands of additional National Guardsmen and Reservists, extend the tours of tens of thousands of brave troops already in Iraq, and plunge our forces even deeper into Iraq’s civil war.

This paragraph, after the opening salutations, demonstrates the monomania and tunnel vision of those involved. It demonstrates the Major Symptom of criticizing the President over Iraq, cites a military leader who is displeased with events, and criticizes a plan which is not fully in place nor in action to put forth that it is not working. This is a major cognitive dysfunction on another scale, however, as the purporting that the 'American people overwhelmingly made clear' any such desire is not supported by the Democratic Party's 2006 platform [some cropping of the screen capture involved to remove the surrounding gray areas]:




Here we have a decided inability to tie back to the physical world in which the Political Leaders involved no longer even recognize what it is that they ran on to win the last election. It is duly noted that not a single one of the major points involved actually makes the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan as its basis and, in fact, does not even attempt to address terrorism at all. By putting forth no concrete terms for election based on Iraq or Afghanistan nor featuring it as a primary point for their Party, these two political leaders are now refusing to tie their 'real world' mental construct back to the outlook given during the election.

Notice that this also involves the Secondary diagnostic condition of being unable to offer anything better in the conflicts and the problems of the Nation keeping illegitimate military organizations at bay. These individuals further demonstrate this disassociation by being unable to utilize the actual, military terminology for 'civil war' so that their references can have martial meaning and outlook and demonstrate any knowledge of the historical precedents of 'civil war' and what their conditions are. By being unable to do that and utilize long lasting and historically meaningful definition of the term 'civil war', these two leaders are now attempting to re-define the physical world in accord to their 'real world' outlook.

It is noted that the term associated with this has been in used since the first author outlined the mindset and utilization of language debasement to enforce mental control over populations. That term and its concaminant long-term end state are both highly useful in also diagnosing Totalitarian Memory Hole Lapse: Newspeak is the term and Duckspeak is the final end state of individuals enforce new meanings upon old words that are in no way in accordance to the original words at all. From that Desktop Reference Guide to Orwellian States we can now clearly see that Defeatocrat Disease is a prime precursor to Big Brother Brutality, in which the actual, physical events are distorted so as to give a 'real world' construct any basis in fact.

This is supported by the Secondary diagnostic condition of purporting that 'past experience' in Iraq guides the speakers when, in point of fact, there is NO equivalent experience that the US Armed Forces have in living memory of a situation like this and that the last time the US was involved in an operation on anything like this scale for counter-insurgency was in 1899-1913 in the Philippines. Nor, indeed, have either put forth any clear or cognizant understanding of what the actual concept of the Strategy in Iraq *is* nor the problems faced in Nation Building exercises and the meddling of the Political Elites in the last failure of the US in Haiti in 1915-34. Either these two Political Leaders have NO formalized education in US history of any sort or they have moved into a mental construct in which the 'past' is limited to years starting with a 196_ and higher pre-fix. Without the ability to do any past analysis of post-war situations, both of the US and other Nations, and put any perspective into the current conflicts that are ongoing, they are offering no coherent basis of outlook and ideas that conforms to the physical world.

In the very first paragraph of a letter sent to the President of the United States, these two Political Leaders have clearly demonstrated the prime diagnostic conditions for Defeatocrat Disease. This then indicates that they are operating in a world of mental constructs that is highly limited into input, puts no value on analysis of past events or history, and reduces timescales for anything so that criticism can be had at the least possible timescale without acknowledging the long-term basis of events and how they unfold. From this very basis, one can expect much more in the way of disassociated context of events, mischaracterizations of activities and total abdication of the Role of the Legislature in Warfare.

The second paragraph is as follows:

As many had foreseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results. The increase in U.S. forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation. It has not enhanced America’s national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on U.S. forces have increased. In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for U.S. troops.

Here the 'As many had foreseen' again does not address timescale of the conflict involved nor of counter-insurgency operations that are, of necessity, long-term affairs. Notice that it is a highly passive use of addressing a problem, in which others had foreseen problems and that those putting forth this current document had no hand in any affairs for years or decades prior to this time. Even worse is the lack of recognition that the entire operational plan is not even fully staffed nor in-place and cannot expect to see meaningful results until months after it has a chance to be established. Such simple things as post-WWII occupation of Germany and removing of the worst of the Nazi sympathizers and the 'Werewolves' that staged many low-level attacks upon military and political figures, does not demonstrate the understanding that to some 'political reconciliation' will not be had as those that are irreconcilable have no want of actually being reconciled to their loss.

Worse than that, however, is the lack of recognition that in the once violent province of al-Anbar, the long term US Strategy has not only won results, but resoundingly so, and is creating a new political movement and atmosphere in Iraq that sees broad-spectrum buy-in by the Sunni minority to END terrorist violence. One of the main reporters on this has been Bill Roggio and Michael Yon, both of which have reported not only great success in getting a new basis for political and military stability in Iraq, but that it *works* and is *spreading* to other provinces as the terrorists find themselves unwelcome in al-Anbar. Even more important is the recognition that corruption of military and political figures has little place in a democratic Nation and the need of Iraqis to want that ended. As Michael Yon reported to Glenn Reynolds on 20 MAY 2007 from Anbar Province:

Boring day today, Sunday. Very quiet. But I see the news and it looks pretty bad. Did long meeting with USMC and Iraqi Police Chiefs today. Was about the most tedious meeting I've been to in Iraq -- and that means it was glacial. I hope we can make the rest of Iraq like this.

And understanding that Mr. Yon is a retired member of the US Special Forces and has spent considerable time in Iraq and Afghanistan as an embedded reporter and he has no compunctions about calling idiocy and loss when he sees it. Apparently al-Anbar province got boring. No fighting going on worth talking about and he moved on to areas where the insurgency is still active. When Michael Yon, who is now an active War Reporter of the old school of getting out there with the combat units involved, reports that there is no war going on where he is you know that there is NO WAR GOING ON there. That is why he wanted to change units: to report on a WAR GOING ON.

Mr. Roggio has done hard and necessary work both as an embed and in coordinating news from Iraq so that a perspective can be gained on the actual activities going on there. With Anbar becoming a lethal place for terrorists to remain in, they moved to lesser defended provinces, like Diyala. The basis of Anbar Awakening, however, is not Provincial, but Tribal, and as the Tribes cross Provinces the shift of al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army means that they are now meeting up with expanding Tribal resistance that is in *support* of the Government. Diyala is now getting the hang of this 'local authority with support of government' concept that allows those who are local to have support and back-up while more formal troops may be lacking. Additionally is seen the influence of Iranian 'Secret Cells', which are part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). That has *also* been reported to Congress as the IRGC extends influence over more of Iran and looks to export Islamic Revolution globally as that is their mandate.

The statement by the Leaders of Congress that put forth that US Forces have had no impact on "curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation" is one that is highly at odds with the actual reconciliation with Sunni Tribes with each other and the Iraqi Government, the formation of new, Provincial and Tribal based coalition political parties and the actual lessening of violence across Iraq and Baghdad so that al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army are finding it difficult to stage daily operations and now must go for bigger 'event' but singular irregular attacks. And this is before the surge operations are fully in-place, fully manned and fully operational.

A final bit of non-recognition of the physical reality and the mentally constructed 'real world' is the citation of casualties rising. In the month before D-Day in 1944 casualties were actually quite low, with only a few hundred lost in a training exercise. Going on the offensive and taking the fight to the enemy means that friendly forces will have more casualties. This has been true in every ground combat situation since the beginning of armed conflict. The US Armed Forces are not sitting ducks, but targeting the enemies from multiple sources, establishing localized control over towns and cities, helping to raise up police and army units, get some form of democratic government up and running *and* fighting. Fighting and casualties do not take place on separate realms of reality and counter-insurgency requires an 'across the board' effort in all realms simultaneously and NONE of them can be done without basic military security. One of these Political Leaders has so mis-characterized that in the past and besmirched the honor of the General leading the counter-insurgency effort that this can only be seen as an absolute divorcing from the physical reality of life on the planet so that he may live in a fantasyland 'real world'.

Apparently neither of these leaders knows what it means to build trust-based relationships with individuals on the ground.

That may lead to a rude awakening in up and coming elections in the US.

The third paragraph attempts to critique the Iraqi Government:

Meanwhile, Iraq’s political leaders have done little to unite their nation and diffuse sectarian tensions. Recent reports indicate that the Iraqi government is unlikely to enact any of the legislative benchmarks which you endorsed in your January 10 speech. While our troops and their families are required to make greater sacrifices on behalf of the Iraqi people, Iraq’s political and military leaders are unlikely to meet any of the standards for measuring progress which only a few months ago were thought not only possible, but essential, to achieve. On June 12, the former head of the US training operation in Iraq, General Dempsey, gave an assessment of the capability of Iraqi security forces that concluded that after years of effort and massive expenditure of resources, Iraqi units remain uneven in their quality and reliability.

This coming from two individuals who promised that their first 100 hours in power would be the most active seen in the Republic for decades. Instead, the glacially locked Congress of the previous session returned, but with the added bonus of becoming so locked in problems that it took them 108 days to even *vote* on a piece of legislation that was promised to be passed the VERY FIRST THING. Charging others for being as slow as a turtle when you are in charge of an organization that makes slugs look blazingly fast is a bit of chutzpah that hasn't been seen in decades, either. In point of fact the six things that these two Leaders ran on as a Party platform not only remain UNDONE but they have backslid in each of them to the point where things are worse *now* than when they got into power in JAN 2007. And they dare to criticize another legislature that hasn't even run for re-election yet and that have never actually run a government before in their entire lives that they aren't doing it far faster than the United States can?

This is sheer and utter divorce from reality as even the United States spent five long years in failing government with the Articles of Confederation and the entire Nation nearly collapsed before a Constitution and Federal Government could even get voted on and passed into being. They are, perhaps, projecting their own levels of incompetence upon others and decrying it while refusing to recognize that they are doing even worse by their very own standards.

These two leaders, likewise, fail to meet their self-same standards and can, by their light, be so highly crticized that the People could vote in their States to withdraw support for this Congress and were even advised by one Senator to do so. It is very strange becuase Sen. Lott is also highly dysfunctional towards many topics, but he did get the proper response based on the duties assumed by Congress. This from Sen. Trent Lott on the recent Immigration Amnesty proposal, which he was FOR:

This is one of the biggest issues facing this country and the question is do we have the courage, tenacity and the ability to get anything done anymore. If we can't do this, we ought to vote to dissolve the Congress and go home and wait for the next election...

If these two fine Leaders of Congress feel that this letter is the absolutely most pressing thing in Congress and that they cannot get anything done to their satisfaction, then they should, indeed, do their Constitutional Duty and dissolve Congress. When the President needs you for a bill to be passed he will call an emergency session and the States can pony up folks until regular elections in them can get a proper quorum. This is a highly descriptive characteristic of how those living in a fantasy-based ideological 'real world' no longer recognize their duties nor responsibilities and wish to make others culpable for their inability to deal with that divide.

Worse still is the utilization of yet anther individual from the Armed Forces and yet not putting that statement into any coherent context to know what it actually means. The United States has a long military tradition that it has been building up and establishing in a truly formal means, via War Colleges, for a short period of time, historically speaking. These two political leaders have not the slightest clue on what it takes to Create an Army, especially in the Middle East where there are high levels of social dysfunction and factionalization that is used to spread divisions not only in the Army but in society as a whole. The excellent work of Norvelle B. De Atkine in that description and analysis is key to understanding that what is being created in the Middle East, an Army that is secular in outlook and enforces the Nation State and all of the People as a whole, is, outside of Israel, unknown in the Middle East.

Further, and this should be known by these two individuals, is that when trying to get a worn down military component up to snuff and establish or re-establish capability and esprit de corps, there will be unevenness in that. When bringing up an entire Army that is diverse in capability, that is to be expected. They should know this as that has happened to two Army Divisions in the US Army during their time in Congress. The Iraqis have never HAD an accountable Army and building one up takes time, especially a modern force. As an example, the New Iraqi Army has stood up its first Armored Division with tanks refitted by Romania, which were finally delivered last year. Until those are delivered one cannot train as an Armored Division, and they have gone through equivalent training in the US but with US equipment, not Iraqi. Now with that delivery comes the long and difficult adjustment time to stand up the Division, train it with Iraqi equipment and capability and finally work to integrate it with Infantry and Mechanized Infantry, plus air cover. The Iraqi Air Force is reborn and only now, after years of training its pilots and finally getting its cargo aircraft, to learn the Logistics Supply end of the business. Similarly the 'brown water Navy' has also had to stand up for patrol and in-shore combat support and it, also, has been lacking equipment until recently. I cannot see how the Iraqi Army could be brought up 'evenly' in this event.

Even worse is that these two individuals do not even recognize the problem in procurement cycles, establishing funding base and ensuring accountability to funds. Last year the Iraqi Government ran a $10 billion SURPLUS and its economy is growing at over 4% per year and has been for years. They do not know how to spend their money wisely and, rather than spread corruption through unwise spending, they are taking their time to have their bureaucrats EDUCATED in how to work business and government accounts, establish means to track and monitor money flows and make sure that Internal Affairs organizations are funded and working so as to start curbing corruption from the start. Amazing what they have accomplished in 1.5 years in Iraq, given that they had ZERO to start with. That, too, is divorcing oneself from the physical reality and going beyond that to deny that one actually knows how a government works and why it works that way. If these two leaders wanted a corrupt, tin-pot dictatorship in Iraq they should have spoken up Four Years Ago about that.

These two Political Leaders also do not appear to understand their duties outlayed to them in the Constitution and the separation of powers it contains. This next paragraph shows that and the inability to deal with that as a concept in representative democracy:

Congress on a bipartisan basis sent you legislation in April that set forth a new strategy for Iraq that responded to the wishes of the American people and better served America’s national security interests. This legislation, which you unfortunately chose to veto, was consistent with the approach advocated by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group late last year. That strategy called for transitioning the role of U.S. forces away from policing a civil war to missions that are consistent with our strategic interests, namely fighting terrorism, training Iraqis, and protecting U.S. forces. The strategy also would have begun the phased redeployment of our troops from Iraq so that Iraqis could take responsibility for their own security.

Congress is not given the power to set forth new strategy for the Armed Forces: that is wholly given over to the President of the United States with the Commander in Chief Power. The President is also Head of State and Head of Government, both giving the individual involved those powers that can only be removed by removal of the individual from Office. Legislation may not address strategy nor tactics, the only realm for doing anything is in the accountability of laws via the UCMJ. The Iraq Study Group is not a government organization and has no standing with the US Government, and so citation of it is useless for anything dealing with the physical reality of strategy with regards to Congress. Congress does not get to set Foreign Policy nor how to run Armed Conflicts beyond the upholding of military justice laws.

And as seen earlier, the inability to actually understand counter-insurgency operations means that one cannot separate the fighting and security part of it from the training, building, establishing a basis for indigenous control and accountability. Iraq, even as it stands, has a couple of provinces where the Iraqis, no matter HOW MUCH MONEY is thrown at them will not be able to take control of them for months as they are still figuring out how to build supportable capacity, figure out how much they need and spend money effectively. Doing that and trying to establish this concept of 'federalism' and 'local control of affairs' is a hard thing to do in a land that has never experienced that in history. Apparently these two political leaders believe that this can be done in a few months or a year or two. At no time in history has this been done in that short a period of time unless one takes into account the Nations under the defunct USSR which had, at some point for most of them, some history of democratic workings and had cultural affinity for same. That can go quickly, when societies are whole and working together towards a common goal.

That does not describe Iraq which has always been divided by Tyrants and Empires along ethnic/sectarian/tribal lines and the splits within each of those used against them. Figuring this out does not take long, just a bit of reading of reports to understand that Iraqi civil society has been so abused that it did not even *exist* in many areas of the Nation when it was liberated. The rebuilding of those bonds of trust will take far longer than building roads, bridges, power plants, water systems, and getting a basis for security in place. Apparently that does not fit into the 'real world' that these two political leaders see.

It is fully understandable from the Defeatocrat Disease standpoint that from these fantasy based views of the world will come wrong-headed and destructive goals that will limit freedom and make people less secure over time. That is highly unfortunate, but utilizing the insights of Lee Harris on *another* organization's fantasy ideology will help one come to understand just what the Defeatocrats are about. I find it highly unfortunate that the Defeatocrat Disease has now inculcated a fantasy that will now empower that other organization if it is allowed to spread unchecked.

That other organization is al Qaeda.

And they have based their outlook on their fantasy, and destruction of civilization is the result of it.

It has apparently one two converts, both at the head of houses of Federal Government in the US.

Fantasy trumps the physical world, right up to the point of the knife that slits one's throat. Then the physical world takes over once more.

John Edwards - running from responsibility

Does anyone out there remember World War II?

No, really!

Remember the great signing of the Peace Treaty on the Battleship Missouri?

Photo Courtesy: Signal Alpha

Something like that, 2 SEPT 1945?

Remember that?

Did the US just up and leave a couple of years later? No, we didn't. We actually stayed around for some time in force until 28 APR 1952. We did that to help stand up a new type of government and to make sure the Japanese People would have a voice in it and be able to be free from Imperial ambitions. A mere 2, 430 days! To help a people with almost no ethnic or cultural diversity to finally get to the point of being self governing and not to be a future threat to the United States.

And Germany?

Final surrender... remember that? Not so picturesque, but with all due German military propriety involved.


Photo Courtesy: Cold War Files
Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel on 7 MAY 1945 surrendering, officially, at the Russian HQ in Berlin.

Remember that?

Did the US then just leave Germany? You know, pack up and go home? Nasty old war all done with wasn't it?

Apparently the US stuck around for a while and implemented this thing called the Marshall Plan. Huge amount of the American budget and production capacity devoted to helping Europe out after the War with about $13 billion in aid over the next couple of decades. A puny amount by today's standards, even adjusted for inflation from 1945... only about $148 billion today. Congress can sneeze that away faster than you can say 'Pork Barrel Politics'. Mind you we had just come out of spending 50% of GDP, per year on WWII, so diverting just a smidge of that so it could help out Europe a bit wasn't really missed too much. Had a pretty good post-war economic boom in any event.

Say have we LEFT Germany yet?

No?

I mean we are now working with Japan to withdraw the last of our troops from Japanese territory... any sign of that in Germany? Well, EUCOM does cover a large swath of Africa, but, really, we seem to have about 115,000 troops there and, outside of the Balkans and a bit of democracy sustainment in Georgia and some light peacekeeping duties, are that many really needed to defend Europe?

Apparently America likes to stick around after a war to make sure that things get rebuilt, civilization has a chance to stand on its own and that Empires will not rise again after we leave. Pretty piss-poor thing to do, that. Spend lots of blood and money and time to knock down a tyrant and *then* leave the place in a shambles so that some new tinpot dictator can take over. Just means our sons and daughters will have to go BACK to that place, someday. Its happened before with Haiti, which seems to get regular attention from the US every couple of decades. Go in, bust up, leave and then be right back there again in a few more years.

Pretty asinine, that.

And even before that was the Philippine-American war, which ended very sprightly on 4 JUL 1901! Victory and all that declared and so forth. Yes a bit of goings on with some holdouts... but then the entire Moro business got way out of hand. That didn't end until 1911-13, thereabouts, to finally get the Philippines together without a family feud going on that would cause grief for decades on end. Pretty brutal, that, with folks being skinned alive and their stuffed skins hung up by trails and such. Not this petty 'panties on the head' or 'waterboarding' sort of deal, but just flensing knives without anesthetic. No point to it, just being brutal to show you can be and lower the morale of the enemy. Good thing the US Army put a stop to that, isn't it?

Quite a few Moros, to this day, have names like John and Pershing. To remind them of what a *real* commander and soldier IS.

So, when I get a nice little email from the Edwards Campaign, I really do have to wonder exactly WHICH United States they think they are in. Why is that? Well here is a nice bit from the email, which was a mass one so lots of folks should have gotten it:

Four years ago today, George Bush landed an S-3B Viking jet on the USS Lincoln and told America that major combat operations were over—mission accomplished. It wasn't. The troops have done everything they were asked. They deserve a hero's welcome. They deserve to come home.

Last November, we sent a new Congress to Washington with their own mission: stand up to President Bush and end the war. Congress has taken a critical first step, but it's up to us to make sure they finish the job.

We must send our voice directly to Washington: We're sending Congress customized postcards, calling on them to stand strong until they've accomplished their mission and brought the troops home. You can customize and send yours by clicking below: [link removed]

And we must speak up in our communities: MoveOn.org and a coalition of progressive groups are organizing emergency rallies in hundreds of cities nationwide, calling on Congress to stand firm. You can find and join a rally by clicking here [link removed].

However you choose to speak out, please encourage others to join you. It will take all of us working together to end this war.

Thank you,

David Bonior
Campaign Manager, John Edwards for President
Veteran, United States Air Force (1968-1972)

P.S. -- Here’s a larger version of the postcard you can customize and send to Congress:

Aren't they just the Sweetest? And even from a real, live veteran and all, too! Mr. Bonior currently works at American Rights at Work, a union and labor place for support of worker's rights and such. Just a quick look at one of their sponsored trips to have some international labor activists tour the US for human rights abuses at workplaces in America, and we can tell the sorts of people they get involved with:

One of the co-sponsors of that tour was the Equal Justice Center for a stop in Austin, TX, and it has a lowdown on the happenings. And their list of folks includes: Central Texas Immigrant Worker's Rights Center, Religion and Labor Network of Austin, Poultry Worker's Justice Project, Transnational Worker's Rights Clinic - UT Law School.

Mariclaire Acosta Urquidi - The folks at the Equal Justice Center characterize her with - "former Vice-Minister for Human Rights and Democracy (2001-2003) in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Mexico, international human rights expert and activist". She currently heads up the fund for global human rights, an organization handing out all sorts of little grants on the topic. In 2006 they funded this little gem:

Border Justice (Frontera con Justicia)
$15,000 for general support of this organization, whose activities include documenting human rights abuses committed by the police and providing legal aid to migrants in the northern state of Coahuila on the U.S. – Mexico border.

So good of them to be looking out for such things, isn't it? Notice that they are called by the generic 'migrants'. Perhaps they actually stopped some folks from going North illegally? Somehow I doubt that, given the nature of the grant. Somehow 'Border Justice' should include the idea that one does NOT break the law by illegally entering a foreign Nation. But then they don't seem to be too hot on borders, either, given another piece from the 2006 grant list:

Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center
$8,000 for general support of this organization, whose activities include documenting human rights abuses and providing legal aid to Central American migrants in the Mexico – Guatemala border region.

Actually, Mexico does frown on that sort of thing and really doesn't want Central Americans flooding over their southern border. Well, that is Transnational Progressivism, for you - demeaning the idea of Nation State as much as they can. Still, not a bad organization, although one could hope that they actually would help with enforcing the laws and discouraging folks from breaking them, instead of just trying to clean up messes afterwards.

Véronique Marleau - Of whom the EJC say - "Ms. Marleau’s interests and expertise include comparative and international law, human rights, policy development and governance, labour law and labour relations, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), administrative and constitutional law, legal theory, jurisprudence and epistemology." Ms. Marleau can be found looking for gender equality in the workplace along with all sort of other intersting things going on, like working with Jobs with Justice. Here is a bit from one of their worker's rights tours with ARW in OCT 2005:

On October 21st, one group from the delegation went to New Bedford to speak with Guatemalan worker in the fish houses. These workers told of dangerous, dirty work that they were often under paid for. Workers pointed to their immigration status as the reason why fish house employers can get away with the poor working conditions and pay. Another group of delegates joined Rep. James McGovern (D- Mass) at a Workers Rights Board Hearing at Clark University in Worcester. Workers from central Massachusetts told of being fired for wanting a union on their job site. Workers from St. Gobain recounted their 5-year struggle, with the company demanding a decertification election, or they would close. The delegates Marieclaire Acosta and Veronique Marleau joined Rep. McGovern in expressing their outrage at the treatment of workers in Worcester. Massachusetts Jobs with Justice will be compiling the local stories for a report from the Workers’ Rights Board to be delivered on Dec. 8th in honor of International Human Rights Day.

Their 'immigrant status'? Yes, thats right, they are not here legally! Oh, bolding in that is theirs, italics mine. So, let me get this straight: come to the US illegally, complain that the 'good job' you came for is underpaying and cruddy and then be miffed when you can't form a Union because you are here illegally? Say what? That is just, plain whacko because no matter how much one puts forward the lovely Universal Declaration of Human Rights that only pertains to when one is someplace legally. As Nation States are the only bodies that can sign Sovereign Treaties, that must be the case of the very framework of diplomacy is undermined. Break the basis for the agreement by your actions and you do NOT get covered by it.

Maria Adela Mejia Perez - Again from the EJC - "Mary also played a key role in supporting apparel assembly workers in El Salvador in their organizing and bargaining campaigns and is well known and recognized throughout Central America for her organizing skills and her willingness to support fellow Central Americans to gain a voice at work. Mary is presently in the United States and is a political asylum petitioner."

Say, couldn't she work a bit more for 'social justice' back home? Or is that such a bad thing to do there that she has to come here to organize? Yes, I do applaud her the actual achievements, and if she is under death threat from her government for her views, then, by all means, a good petition. It would be more impressive if she documented that a bit more and helped those who would campaign against such a horrific regime rather than aid others trying to undermine a democracy.

Rev. Dr. Calvin Morris - (Source: The History Makers) - "Morris is a board member of the Golden Apple Foundation, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Theater Company, Sojourner and the Wieboldt Foundation.

He is a co-convener of the Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago and is a co-chairman of Jobs for Justice Clergy Committee. Morris was elected treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University, his alma mater. He lives near his daughter in Chicago."

Rev. Morris gets invited to Plenary Meetings of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism at their National Session, and that has such panels as the following from their 2006 shindig:

• SOCIALIST VISION and CCDS


• POLITICAL CONTEXT FOR BUILDING A PROGRESSIVE MAJORITY IN 2006


• BUILDING A SOCIALIST LEFT WITHIN THE BROADER PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT: THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER

Makes one feel so warm, doesn't it, having Mr. Bonior rub elbows with a Progressivist with Socialist viewpoints?

Allie Robbins, National Organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops. The following is from a GW Hatchet (An Independent Student Newspaper - it so boldly says on its masthead) article on Ms. Robbins on 10 MAY 2004:

Criticizing GW gets seniors award

by Brandon Butler

In March, University officials had senior Allison Robbins arrested for protesting in the Marvin Center. At Sunday's Commencement ceremony, they will honor her for it.

Robbins, along with senior Graham Murphy, will receive the first Manatt-Trachtenberg awards at the May 16 ceremony for "their efforts to inspire social consciousness" at the University. The newly created award is named for University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and Board of Trustees Chairman Charles Manatt.

[..]

The award honors the two students by giving them a $250 cash prize and engraving their names on a silver plaque. A committee comprised of an administrator, two faculty members, two staff members and two students looked at nominated seniors and referred a list of recommendations to Trachtenberg and Manatt, who selected the final winners.

Trachtenberg said the two leaders have left an indelible impact on the school.

"I may or may not agree with them, but you can't deny their enthusiasm, their sincerity and their commitment," he said.

Robbins, a workers' rights activist, is a member of the Progressive Student Union and has helped to organize marches, rallies and a sit-in at the Marvin Center March 29 where she and ten other students were arrested. Given all the controversy surrounding Robbins' actions, even she wondered why the University would choose to give her the award.

[..]

Murphy also said it was ironic that the University will honor Robbins with the award.

"I thought Allie was going to get the 'Pain in the Ass Award' from the administration," Murphy said. "I definitely think that she is more worthy than I am for this award."

One really does have to admire that! That said I have gone to school with similar in my time, and know the condition of loud, closed eared and protesting for just about everything but working to build very little. Great for political indoctrination, though! Needless to say she is on the JwJ folks' board as Vice-Chair.

Professor Harley Shaiken - from the ECJ - "Shaiken is the author of three books: Work Transformed: Automation and Labor in the Computer Age; Automation and Global Production; and Mexico in the Global Economy, as well as numerous articles and reports in both scholarly and popular journals. He is an advisor on trade and labor issues to public and private organizations and leading members of the United States Congress. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Center for American Progress."

That last is, of course, a Progressivist place, the CAP. He is Professor of Education and Geography, Chair for Latin American Studies at Berkley.

That is the sort of people that David Bonior is sharing idea space with: Leftist, Socialists, 'Progressivists' and a Professor from Leftist Central at UC Berkley. Why am I not enthused to actually do anything for the Edwards campaign?

Could it be that I prefer my Nation *not* to head in the Socialist direction?

And just why, is Mr. Bonior working to undermine support for this Nation's military and its outlook on what a 'just peace' is? Does he have any interest in *having* a Nation at all?

John Edwards - Defeatocrat.