Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Lack of introspection let alone accountability

"We're approaching the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, a conflict that saw the loss of many British service personnel, more than half a million Iraqis killed and there are still unanswered questions about the legality of the war," British MP Kris Hopkins tells Keighltey News.  Hopkins, a member of the UK Conservative Party, was among those who opposed the Iraq War.  He is calling for a debate on the Iraq War.  In England, the Labour Party was in power at the start of the illegal war, led by Tony Blair.  In the United States, the party in power was the Republican Party, led by Bully Boy Bush.  But in a sign of just how ineffective the elected Democrats were, no one calls for anything today.  John Conyers where has your voice gone?

Excuse me, there are comments about the Iraq War from members of Congress -- or a member of Congress.   US House Rep Walter Jones has gotten some attention in the news cycle recently for saying Dick Cheney will rot in hell.  Emily Heil (Washington Post) quotes him stating, "Lyndon Johnson's probably rotting in hell right now because of the Vietnam War and he probably needs to move over for Dick Cheney."  (Apologies to Emily Heil, until this morning I have spelled her name repeatedly as "Hell" -- that wasn't an attempted insult, I honestly thought that was her last name.  I was wrong. My apologies.)  That's what a news publication quotes.

As opposed to partisan hacks who've reduced it to 'Dick Cheney will rot in hell.'  Partisan hacks don't want to hold LBJ responsible for his crimes.  They also don't want to include the sentence right before the one we just quoted.  That's when Jones declared, "Congress will not hold anyone to blame."

And he's probably right. 

Find another member of the US Congress making any statement of relevance regarding the Iraq War.  Not able to.  And Jones is not just a Republican, he was for the Iraq War at the start.  Unlike so many Democrats who supported it, Jones actually apologized for his vote.

And let's talk about another Republican [Dana Rohrabacher].  Liz Sly is a journalist for the Washington Post.  She wrote a great article two weeks ago.  We would have highlighted it but an idiot made a fool of themselves.  The article's related to Iraq and Iran and militias and you can toss in the MEK into the overall mix.  And an idiot wanted to demonstrate they were a hack by using the same time as Sly's article was in the news cycle, fresh, to attack Dana Rohrabacher.

He's a Republican and a member of the US House of Representatives.  He's from my state and occasionally we'll get a press release from his office here.  That's about all I have to do with Dana Rohrabacher.  I don't know him personally.

But I was grossly offended by the foreign correspondent who decided they would tear into him.

First, it demonstrated a partisan nature that a reporter -- not a columnist -- should never display.

Second, it was grossly uninformed and highly ignorant.

Maybe if you're not in the United States, you shouldn't concern yourself with members of Congress?

This reporter doesn't cover Congress.  Doesn't know a damn thing about which they were Tweeting.

I really don't give a damn that Rohrabacher supported the Iraq War.  Sadly, that position was shared by many Democrats as well.  If he continued to support it, I would care.

Oh, that's right, foreign correspondent, you dumb idiot, he didn't continue to support it.  Now maybe if your ass had been at Congressional hearings, maybe if you'd spent the last years reporting on those, you'd have something to Tweet about?

I have no problem with holding people accountable or with the use of ridicule.  But there are times it makes sense to use it and times it doesn't.  There are many people in Congress worth ridiculing over Iraq.  Rohrabacher doesn't make my list.

If he makes your list, that's your opinion.  I hope it's an informed opinion.


I believe we're still the only ones to ever report on what happened in the November 30th House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia hearing on Iraq.

US House Rep Dana Rohrabacher: This whole episode in American history is a very disturbing thing to look at.  And I think when people look back, they're going to wonder why the hell did we ever go into Iraq?  And there will be no question, even in our minds today, whether or not the money that was expended and the lives and the blood that was expended there was worth it?  It was not.  And whatever we are spending now should be terminated and as soon as we can get those troops out, the better.  When you find yourself in a bad situation, you don't try to mess around to make it a little bit less bad, you just step over and try to get in a good situation somewhere else where you can accomplish things.


There are many people I will hold accountable and call out.  But, for me, those who need calling out today, those who need ridicule, are not the ones who have taken some form of accountability.  He did more than just make the above statement.  From the snapshot on that hearing:


 Before we go further, let's jump back to Rohrabacher's statements quoted earlier.  Some may rush to condemn him for them -- some on the right, some on the left, some on the center, some from the apathetic aisles -- by noting that he supported the Iraq War.  True.  And he didn't deny that. Later in the hearing, he noted Ranking Member Ackerman's questioning of Brooke Darby with praise and then added, "Mr. Ackerman and I weren't always on good terms. I argued the case for supporting President Bush with his efforts in Iraq with Mr. Ackerman numerous times and I was wrong.  Thank you, Mr. Ackerman.  This [the Iraq War] has been a waste of our lives and our money."  He also stated during another section of the hearing, "I hope that someone's listening because I wasn't listening years ago when I berated Mr. Ackerman." As US House Rep Brian Higgins would point out, that was a significant moment in Congress where few ever admit they got anything wrong.

It is rare that any member of Congress ever admits they were wrong and does so in more than a single sentence.  It's even rarer that a member of Congress says they were wrong and highlights someone who was right (Democrat Gary Ackerman).  There are many members of Congress I will ridicule over Iraq but I was in that hearing and I thought the remarks were newsworthy then and continue to do so.  It also removed any need I had to ridicule or mock Rohrabacher.

I'd love to see some accountability -- even if only personal accountability -- from the rest of those who supported the Iraq War.

Rohrabacher is not someone I need to ridicule.  If you do, go for it.  We're on opposite ends of the political fence but he admitted he was wrong and he praised an anti-Iraq War member of Congress for being right.   In 2008, we couldn't get that from any of the Democrats running for the party's presidential nomination who'd supported the war.  (Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel were opposed to the Iraq War and didn't need to make amends for their position.)

Maybe before a 'reporter' decides to go to town on Rohrabacher for Iraq, they might take a second to familiarize themselves with something other than 2003.  Or is that too much to expect from someone who is a paid and praised journalist?

Maybe it is too much to ask because apparently expecting the reporter (again, not a columnist) to be objective on their own news feed was too much.  The reporter felt that partisanship was just the thing to dsiplay on Twitter.

If I wanted to be the bitch so many see me as, I'd be naming the Twit who Tweeted right now.  I'm being kind.  It happens -- oh so rarely -- enjoy it while you can.

Interestingly enough, Tony Blair has never apologized.  He was on BBC yesterday yet again proclaiming he was right and arguing the case for how right he was while insisting he had long ago given up trying to persuade anyone (see yesterday's snapshot).

So I went to Twit's Twitter.  Surely, if the Twit was going to attack someone who has admitted they were wrong and praised others for being right, surely that Twit would have something to Tweet about Tony, right?

Wrong.

Rohrabacher was one of 435 members of the House of Represntatives.  Tony Blair was prime minister of England and lied repeatedly to drag his country into war.

Very telling who the Twit goes to town on.

Sarah-Jayne Simon (Arizona Daily Wildcat) reports the Universty of Arizona is gearing up to do what the Congress and the White House won't, spend time reflecting on the Iraq War:

 The Southwest Initiative for the Study of Middle East Conflicts, in collaboration with the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the School of Government and Public Policy will host an event today titled “10 Years Later: Lessons from Iraq.”
The event includes two sessions: the first session, “American Policy and Lessons Learned,” will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the second session, “Iraqi Narratives of Insecurity and Transformation,” will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., according to Leila Hudson, associate professor and associate director of MENAS and the director of SISMEC.



The following community sites -- plus Iraq Inquiry Digest, Adam Kokesh,  On the Wilder Side, Pacficia Evening News, Susan's On the Edge, Jody Watley and C-SPAN -- updated last night and this morning:



The Official Jody Watley Website
Jody Watley. LIVE At Yoshi’s Oakland.
18 hours ago




The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee notes two joint-hearings next month:




There will be a joint hearing between the United States House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs on the following dates:
  
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 10:00 a.m. SD-G50
Joint Hearing on the legislative presentation of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 10:00 a.m. 345 Cannon HOB (House Side)
Joint Hearing on the legislative presentations of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Fleet Reserve Association, Gold Star Wives, Air Force Sergeants Association, and AMVETS
Jeff Johnson
Deputy Clerk/Systems Administrator
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
412 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510 | 202.224.6478




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