Ablogination

Rarely do we link to or comment on the mindless banter that oozes from the depths of the Right-Wing pundit's diseased mind, but sometimes the writing is so poor and the facts so intentionally misplaced that in a dark and slimy sort of way, it's somewhat humorous....

There's a site called "Real Clear Politics". The name alone should be indication enough that the politics is anything and everything but "clear". They seem to be trying to be fair and non-partisan but too much of that in a world infested with Righty is asking for a black mark on one's credibility.
Anyway, we won't blame the site. We do, however, have a thing or two to say about this Sowell character and his seeming lack of interest in being even close to accurate.

Sowell wrote a piece (of shit) about "Amateur Experts". Perhaps this is more of an autobiographically natured entry than Mr. Sowell realizes.

Mr. Sowell attempts to assail the Democrats in congress over their justifiable skepticism of the honesty and impartiality of General Dave Petraeus. He attempts to do so by trying to insinuate that his "marching a company of Marines to the mess hall for chow" makes him a better judge of what he hasn't seen or been a part of than the Democrats that have gone to Iraq and experienced the failure first hand.

Sowell begins by chirping...

Sometimes I feel as if I must be one of the few people left in America who is not a military expert.

Perhaps, but the men and women in congress that make it their life's work to become expertly informed on military issues are.

Sowell continues...

But people who have never even put on a uniform are confident that they know how our troops should be redeployed. Maybe this is one of the fruits of the "self-esteem" that is taught in our schools instead of education.

The biggest flurry of amateur military pronouncements occurred just before General David Petraeus testified before Congress on the situation in Iraq. Many Democrats publicly dismissed what he said before he said it, and some implied that he was a liar before he opened his mouth.

Brilliant! Of course John Kerry (D) was given a Silver Star and a couple of Purple Hearts because he "never even put on a uniform".
The Secretary of the Navy cited Carl Levin's (D)"exceptional service to the Navy and Marine Corps" in presenting him its Distinguished Public Service Award. I guess this was done because Sen. Levin knows nothing about military endeavor. (lol)
Maybe Jim Webb (D) didn't really serve in the military. Maybe as a Marine rifle platoon and company commander in the infamous An Hoa Basin west of Danang, Vietnam, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts for shits and giggles.

Perhaps former and soon-to-be-again Senator Bob Kerrey (D, and staunch Iraq war opponent) was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his lack of putting on a uniform. How many Republicans and assorted warhawks have one of those?

See how stupid this is getting?

Mr. Sowell falsely and very, very ignorantly rambles on trying to force the non-point that a majority of Americans support the war in Iraq. A blatant lie as is evident by every poll and survey conducted in the last two years.

Sowell also attempts to make the case that there's something to win in Iraq and that leaving would constitute some sort of defeat. Perhaps to a defeatist it would. First of all, the war was based on lies and therefore there is no "victory" than can be achieved. Just killing, killing, and more killing. Without moral standing there is nothing to win. Perhaps Sowell considers dead Americans and Iraqis as the measure of victory, which makes me question not only his intellect and heart, but his claimed status as a former Marine as well. No wonder he was "never deployed". With an attitude like that I would barely trust him with the mess hall march, much less a combat mission.

Sowell continues to spout the same old Bush talking points and Righty rhetoric until he gets to this...

There has never been a moment when anyone in Congress, the White House, or the military has ever advocated anything other than getting out when the time is right.

Complete and total bullshit. Bush said "war without end". Congressman and presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich said "bring them home yesterday" as did Sen. Russ Feingold. Sowell of course makes no mention of the permanent bases and other official structures that we will continue to occupy indefinitely no matter what happens in Iraq. Actually, we have never completely left anywhere that we ever fought a war. Germany, Vietnam, Korea...we still have remaining interests in all of them.
I would like to think that Mr. Sowell was just naive on this point, but lying just seems to fit the cause better.

He continues...

It is a question of reaching the point where the Iraqis themselves can deal with the terrorist and other problems of their country without American troops.

That is the direction in which the Iraqis seem to be moving already. It is not that we have "won the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people.

"Already"? It's been four years since Bush declared "victory" in this war. Mr. Sowell's time perception seems to be malfunctioning. We're still waiting for Richard Perle's "parade through the streets of Baghdad" in honor of Bush.
Mr. Sowell seems to be oblivious to the fact the Iraqis wouldn't have any terrorism to deal with had Bush not illegally invaded a country that did absolutely nothing to us. He also seems oblivious to the fact that chaos in Iraq was part of the plan.
Sowell is right about one thing, we definitely haven't won any "hearts and minds" in Iraq. Oh, maybe an individual or two, but definitely not the hearts and minds of the 700,000 Iraqis that escaped into Syria after losing everything they owned and many of those they loved. You don't win hearts and minds by causing the deaths of people's mothers, fathers, children and friends.

Sowell also doesn't understand tribalism. Like the idiots that drafted and executed this God forsaken war, he doesn't understand Arabs, Muslims, their history, their customs, their feelings or their lives.
They're just a bunch of Those People and Sowell, like the saps in the White House, just can't understand why they won't quit fighting and embrace democracy. Easy, they don't want it. Their way is an ancient tribal way and it will not change. Not by force anyway.
Of course, all those kids that watched their parents die after the Yankees came will be sure to remember us just as fondly as they will remember the other tribes or Al Qaida that have killed their families.

A new generation of people that hate America. Nice work.

Poor Mr. Sowell. Perhaps he should go to Iraq himself and tell us about the "progress".
Going from this:

To this:

Or even this:

Is not "progress". Progress would have been leaving an innocent people alone in the first place and not fabricating evidence to justify the war that has killed hundreds of thousands of them.

Progress? A hospital being rebuilt that never needed to be destroyed in the first place? An Iraqi's home being repaired that should have never been damaged in the first place?
Perhaps those that have seen "progress" didn't realize that their Green Zone hotel had running water that the average Iraqi STILL DOESN'T HAVE. Maybe their idea of "progress" is that insurgents and other criminal groups are IN CONTROL OF THE UTILITIES.
How 'bout that progress, Sowell? Amazing, huh?

UPDATE: 9/11/07
Sen. Chuck Hagel just made a fine point while handing Petraeus and Croker their respective asses while questioning them before committee. The reduction of violent activity in Anbar and Baghdad is natural since so many of our troops have been moved there. however, that has left the southern provinces of Iraq in total chaos with Shiite militias murdering and robbing at will with no troops either US or Iraqi to be found.
A "surge" in two areas is food for the cameras. Meanwhile, the rest of Iraq is being decimated.

As we've stated previously, if Iraq became Disney Land tomorrow there is no "victory" because we cannot ever, ever justify the loss of innocent life on both sides nor can we justify the loss of credibility, loss of authority, or the creation of a new generation of terrorists that will kill innocent people all over the world simply because George Bush and his minions attacked an innocent people for no reason other than profit and a passing strategic position in a war without end.