Haditha: Although I’ve been following the issue, I’ve been reluctant to comment for exactly the same reasons Cassandra expresses here. Cassandra, however, has decided to break her silence and offers up insightful commentary (with great links) on the issue and the process of military investigations, in general. Which, by the way, also serve to indict Congressman Murtha’s premature and inflammatory comments on Haditha. One questions the congressman’s motivations and, most especially, the language he uses in condemning the Marines specifically and the administration, generally, where the Haditha incident is concerned. Mr. Murtha’s pronouncements, to my way of thinking, have served no useful purpose whatsoever. I believe his motivation is to “mobilize” public opinion against the war, pure and simple. And I’ll leave it at that.
If you haven’t seen it yet, a CNN reporter writes of Haditha and the Marines in al Anbar province:
I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the
The article is here.
Reprieve: From the heat, that is. We’re only going into the mid-80s today, and I’m grateful, because we’ve had approximately ten consecutive days of mid-90s heat. Yes, it beats cold by a country mile. The heat does get a bit old after a while, though. There’s also t-storms in the forecast and hopefully we’ll get rain. We need it.
Hockey: There will be a Game Seven in the East! Buffalo won last night, 2-1, in overtime. Even though it was a low-scoring game (usually equal to “boring”) there was plenty of action. Tomorrow night’s game should be a classic. Bring it ON!
A week from today at this exact time I’ll either be in the air or hanging around the
Hi Buck!
ReplyDeleteI just posted on your last one, not realizing that you'd just finished this one.
I read that article on Haditha recently, too. I'm glad the reporter got it out there quickly. Those poor guys and their families. That poor Iraqi family. And as Cassandra says, it takes time for these things to be looked into. The stress on these soldiers must be incredible. I know that Murtha has sympathy for them, too, but I sense there is something wrong with the guy. I can't put my finger on what it is, though. His record until the fall of last year gave no hint that he'd become this radical. Interesting that his resolution came on 11/17/05 and the Haditha incident allegedly took place on 11/19/05. Weird coincidence, huh?
I know what you mean about air travel. I hate it, too. Taking books always helps, though. What ones will you be likely to choose to help you along the way?
I've been plowing my way through one on the Soviet nomenklatura. ("Nomenklatura" by Michael Voslensky) Fascinating. All those years during the Cold War, I thought that the Soviet government was made up of "true believers." Not so. They were all power-hungry bureaucrats who didn't believe in communism any more than we did. After Stalin, the Secretary Generals (particularly Brezhnev) were primarily figureheads.
Here's a typical Soviet joke that was going around at the time:
Brezhnev says to an aide, "Look, I told you to write a fifteen minute speech for me, and when I read it at the conference it went on for forty-five minutes!"
The aide replies, "But Leonid Ilyich, I gave you three copies."
The point the author makes is that all speeches were written by the nomenklatura.
Read it if you can find it. I'll bet Condi has.
I was always curious as to why Gorby was so reviled by people like Limbaugh. He really did dismantle the old system. (Much to the dismay of many of the old guard).
By the way, I took that little test you provided and I came out as Einstein, too. No wonder we get along!
Well, to work! Have a good day!
Sam
Hi Buck!
ReplyDeleteI just posted on your last one, not realizing that you'd just finished this one.
I read that article on Haditha recently, too. I'm glad the reporter got it out there quickly. Those poor guys and their families. That poor Iraqi family. And as Cassandra says, it takes time for these things to be looked into. The stress on these soldiers must be incredible. I know that Murtha has sympathy for them, too, but I sense there is something wrong with the guy. I can't put my finger on what it is, though. His record until the fall of last year gave no hint that he'd become this radical. Interesting that his resolution came on 11/17/05 and the Haditha incident allegedly took place on 11/19/05. Weird coincidence, huh?
I know what you mean about air travel. I hate it, too. Taking books always helps, though. What ones will you be likely to choose to help you along the way?
I've been plowing my way through one on the Soviet nomenklatura. ("Nomenklatura" by Michael Voslensky) Fascinating. All those years during the Cold War, I thought that the Soviet government was made up of "true believers." Not so. They were all power-hungry bureaucrats who didn't believe in communism any more than we did. After Stalin, the Secretary Generals (particularly Brezhnev) were primarily figureheads.
Here's a typical Soviet joke that was going around at the time:
Brezhnev says to an aide, "Look, I told you to write a fifteen minute speech for me, and when I read it at the conference it went on for forty-five minutes!"
The aide replies, "But Leonid Ilyich, I gave you three copies."
The point the author makes is that all speeches were written by the nomenklatura.
Read it if you can find it. I'll bet Condi has.
I was always curious as to why Gorby was so reviled by people like Limbaugh. He really did dismantle the old system. (Much to the dismay of many of the old guard).
By the way, I took that little test you provided and I came out as Einstein, too. No wonder we get along!
Well, to work! Have a good day!
Sam (Hope this doesn't post twice. Havin' a little trouble with this today)
Yikes! Sorry, Buck!
ReplyDeleteIt was stuck on there when I tried to use "Other" previously. (It never seems to work for me)
I went all the way out, came back through a different window fifteen minutes later, posted on "Anonymous" and there it was...
Thanks for the recommendation, Sam. Since I'll be flying out of the BIG city (ABQ: five hours from here), I'll be leaving Portales the day before I fly. Perhaps I'll go real early, make a day of it and go to one of the BIG Borders or othersuch and look.
ReplyDeleteI have more than passing interest in the subject as I spent a little over a month in Moscow back in '94 or '95. My company was exploring business opportunities in the newly-privatized Russian telecom sector, and I was fortunate (?) enough to be the project manager on one of those deals. It was interesting, to say the VERY least, and not a little bit dangerous. Those very same power-hungry bureaucrats who were in charge before the fall were the same guys in charge when I was there. Among my "fonder" memories is getting roaring drunk with my Russian counterpart on the project, and ultimately my "big boss." In his office. At 10:00 a.m. He had a complete bar in his office (which was impressive), complete with a cute young thing to refill our glasses when they became empty. I had to skip lunch, go back to the hotel and sleep it off. The team and I joked about needing liver transplants in lieu of bonuses when the project was complete.
And as they say, "you know there's more."
(I'll try "Other" one more time)
ReplyDeleteWow, Buck! Sounds like you had the full "Russian Experience!" I've had a fascination for all things Russian for a long time. You'd find a willing listener/reader in me.
"I know that Murtha has sympathy for them, too, but I sense there is something wrong with the guy. I can't put my finger on what it is, though."
ReplyDeleteOne of those Code Pink biddies must have put a hex on him. ;)
Laurie,
ReplyDelete"One of those Code Pink biddies must have put a hex on him. ;)"
Maybe, but what made him go over to the pink side in the first place? (Pretty wacky group, isn't it? Too bad the world can't be all rosy like that.)
Buck,
ReplyDelete"Those very same power-hungry bureaucrats who were in charge before the fall were the same guys in charge when I was there."
Those guys are like cats, always landing on their feet, aren't they? They must spend a lot of psychic energy on this. It's mind-boggling. Goes back to the old boyar-days, I'll bet. Byzantine survival, ya know.
I will be leaving one week from today to head to NM for a family reunion. I have cousins who will be flying into Alb. although I will try to avoid the big city. While you are hanging out in Alb. try eating at Sadie's - the best and hottest Mexican food around. There use to be a great book store called Page One that we would visit on weekend trips to Alb. Our TV reception in Northern NM was poor - it made my children better readers. I hope you have a great time with your family.
ReplyDeleteI read Michael Fay's blog and got a kick out of his "not commenting" on the Haditha incident. The whole thing gives me such a sick feeling in my stomach - kind of a helpless feeling too.
Lou said: I read Michael Fay's blog and got a kick out of his "not commenting" on the Haditha incident.
ReplyDeleteI read his non-comment comment, too. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where he's coming from. I'm absolutely, positively certain there's much, much more than the public eye can see about this incident. I pray the media will leave it alone until the facts are known and the investigation reaches its conclusion. Fat chance, I know.
"I'm absolutely, positively certain there's much, much more than the public eye can see about this incident. I pray the media will leave it alone until the facts are known and the investigation reaches its conclusion. Fat chance, I know."
ReplyDeleteWell, that is the definition of "a cover-up", didn't you know? If the media didn't know about something the minute it happened, it must have been a cover-up. Just sayin'.