"The incredible incompetence of this president and this administration has put our troops at risk and put this country at greater risk than we ought to be...The unbelievable blindness, stubbornness, arrogance of this administration to do the basics has now allowed this president to once again fail the test of being the commander in chief."
So said John Kerry at a rally in late October, 2004, after the nation learned that some 380 tons of powerful explosives and artillery were missing from an Iraqi military facility under American control. And now, new revelations make it shockingly apparent that John Kerry's warnings were even more dead-on than we thought.
JK went on to say: "The military has been doing its job courageously and honorably, the problem is, the commander in chief has not been doing his. If President Bush can't recognize his failures in Iraq -- which he doesn't admit, won't acknowledge -- you can't fix them. And then he's doomed to repeat the same mistakes elsewhere, whether it's North Korea or Iran or in any other of the risks that we face ahead of us."
Bush's response to Kerry's campaign ad laying it on the line was the usual accusation that the only basis for an opponent's insistence on reality and truth was a desire for political gain.
But, as we all now know, JK's words were no more than the unvarnished truth. And this administration's unacknowledged mistakes can't be fixed. In late July of this year, the Government Accounting Office reported that "The Pentagon cannot fully account for $19.2 billion worth of equipment provided to Iraqi security forces." The AP gives us more damning information:
Baghdad officials have long complained that the lack of equipment has made it difficult to train and equip Iraqi forces.Since the program's beginning, the GAO found, consistent records confirming the date of issue, what type of equipment was received, and by what Iraqi unit were not kept. Before December 2005, no centralized records were kept. While the situation started improving in 2006, problems still exist, the GAO said.
"GAO's review of the January 2007 property books found continuing problems with missing and incomplete records," the report said.
Last Monday, we learned that the Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq and that
"Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information who has studied small-arms trade and received Pentagon briefings on the issue" is quoted as saying that " insurgents frequently use small-arms fire to force military convoys to move in a particular direction -- often toward roadside bombs...the Bush administration frequently complains that Iran and Syria are supplying insurgents but has paid little attention to whether U.S. military errors inadvertently play a role. 'We know there is seepage and very little is being done to address the problem...' Stohl noted that U.S. forces, focused on a fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction after Baghdad fell, did not secure massive weapons caches. The failure to track small arms given to Iraqi forces repeats that pattern of neglect."
More of John Kerry's warnings begin to resonate. In the second debate with Bush on October 8, 2004, he reminded us of just how duplicitously and heedlessly the president and his cohorts had rushed to war and of the consequences of not securing those weapons caches:
Almost a year to the day after that 2004 rally, John Kerry laid out a plan for peace in a speech at Georgetown on "The Path Forward," in which he described the blind and stubborn choices that led us into death and destruction in Iraq:
You know, I always pay close attention to what John Kerry says, and I thought I understood what he's been telling us about Iraq. What he's been telling us since the President broke his word to Congress and took us into a war with no planning and for no good reason. I've heard John Kerry tell us over and over and over about how we let Osama Bin Laden escape at Tora Bora and how we didn't guard the ammo dumps and how we dishonored our troops by not giving them the supplies and defenses that would protect their lives and provide them with a mission equal to their dedication and their sacrifice. I thought I got it.
Well, there's a new movie out that shatters that illusion. I had no idea of the utter, obscene carelessness with which American and Iraqi lives and fortunes have been squandered.
No End in Sight brings you the story straight from the people most involved, the administration officials, the military officers, the troops. The people who lived on the front lines of this nightmare, planned by a handful of men who never saw combat and had never even been to Iraq.
Watching this preview makes me feel sick and angry, determined to bring the truth into the light and bring our troops home safely. I'm betting you'll feel the same:
Comments (17)
Posted by mbk | August 13, 2007 3:24 PM
Kerry was right (and continues to be right). It is our country's shame, and tragedy, that in 2004 , too many people weren't listening, or (along with the media) they refused to listen.
I just heard Grover Norquist admit that both Gore and Kerry were serious, deeply qualified candidates. And he and Rove actually feel good about what their treachery did to our country?
If only .. .
Posted by Jessica Szabo | August 13, 2007 3:25 PM
This is an excellent post..a very well written summary of all of JKs warnings about the Bush policy.
Posted by Kerryvisionary | August 13, 2007 3:33 PM
Thanks for comments, mbk and Jessica! mbk, where did you hear Norquist say that? How revolting!!!
Posted by Slw | August 13, 2007 3:36 PM
Thanks for this great post, I did not know about this movie. As always I will stay tuned to learn more...
Posted by Karen van Hoek | August 13, 2007 3:42 PM
Awesome post. It's beautifully written and heartfelt. I like the way you bring together the elements from different years into one clear narrative spanning 2004-2007. The movie trailer itself is chilling. I gather now that this movie is well-known in some circles, but I hadn't heard of it before you brought this to my attention.
One thing that strikes me about the way the Bush Administration went about this is how, sadly, that kind of shoot-from-the-hip, we-don't-have-time-to-plan, shut-up-and-don't-bother-me-with-the-facts mentality is mistakenly perceived as 'strong' and 'decisive' by many people. The reality is that it takes strength of character to face things squarely as they are, to plan carefully, to listen to opposing views, to read the reports from people who say "We need to do things differently" and take the time to think them through, etc. Cowards and bullies can easily say "We don't have time to talk!" and "My way or the highway!" but the result is a mess like we have in Iraq. It's sad that that kind of approach was successfully sold to the public as 'strong and effective' until the mess got so bad that it couldn't be covered up any longer. It's a pity that people didn't listen to John Kerry when he talked about old-fashioned notions like planning and dialogue and dealing with reality.
Anyway, thanks for a beautiful, timely, thoughtful post.
Posted by mbk | August 13, 2007 3:43 PM
Great post, by the way, Kerryvisionary.Many thanks!!
Grover Norquist made his remarks on NPR. Whometense provided this link at DU Kerry Forum . Listen to it if your stomach is strong enough:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12738678
Posted by fedup | August 13, 2007 4:02 PM
Posted by mbk | August 13, 2007 3:43 PM
MBK, that was totally disgusting. How does he even metion the word "principles", my God, they have none, nada, zip. I truly cannot believe how these heartless sleazeballs continue to get air time.
Kerryvisionary, excellent post. I hope they will sell DVD's (in the near future) of the movie, since it isn't being shown in my area.
Posted by Kerryvisionary | August 13, 2007 4:24 PM
Thank you, fedup -- I couldn't agree more about their utter soullessness. And I hope and believe that, as with other movies like this, it will be a grassroots phenomenon that shows up on dvd soon and is shared among activists to spur us all to further action.
Posted by judy | August 13, 2007 5:50 PM
Beautifully written and very moving. Thank you so much for expressing what so many of us feel.
Keep up the good work, please. We need as many voices like yours as possible to drown out the din of the soulless noisemakers who abound!
Posted by NewGeneration | August 13, 2007 6:27 PM
Thank you for posting this - even though the facts are completely disgusting, it's good to know there are people like you and JK making sure the truth is heard. Well done.
Posted by Frank | August 13, 2007 7:43 PM
A really great posting, Kerryvisionary! It makes me very sad when I think of what John Kerry would have done if elected. I should say, if Bush had not stolen a presidential election again, this time with the obvious manipulation of the vote in Ohio. Although we need to look ahead rather than back, the stolen Ohio vote could be a good subject for a posting you could do,especially because information on the blatent sculduggery (in 2006 as well as 2004) has now come to the fore. Thanks again for your posting.
Posted by anotherjudy | August 13, 2007 8:02 PM
Thank you, Kerryvisionary, for your insight and the preview!
Posted by Emily | August 14, 2007 2:20 AM
Yep. A lot of "Kerry was right" moments in this film sadly. This movie looks good and so I would definietly suggest the book "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast. He talks a lot about how everything is connected. Even though I'm currently a Gravel supporter and adore and admire him and fully support him I'm still a Kerry supporter and so wish he was running this time around. He would be so great as president and knows what to do with everything going on. Where it concerns stealing votes and oppressing people etc. that's never something you should ignore. If you're allowed to get away with it one time than you'll keep getting away with it until someone starts fighting you on it and we could lose out on another great president and go even farther and deeper into the hole we're in now.
Posted by KJ | August 14, 2007 11:07 AM
Was pointed here by a friend. There's so much common sense here that I can't believe the situation isn't obvious to everyone! Maybe the movie will help change some minds. Kudos to you for getting the word out, and keep up the good work!!
Posted by PamB | August 14, 2007 9:01 PM
Great post. I agree that the best way to support our troops is with effective leadership, good management on the ground, and achievable goals. Thanks for dispersing the fog of war with a little sense of history and perspective. Keep it up!
Posted by Miss Sunbeam | August 15, 2007 3:50 PM
Ditto that, my brother, on "No End In Sight," on "Armed Madhouse" and on Senator Kerry, the embodiment of so much that is wonderful about this place where, to quote "Howl", "we hug and kiss the United States under our bedsheets the United States that coughs all night and won't let us sleep".
Posted by Spectator | August 20, 2007 10:33 AM
As always, a thoughtful and well-written post from Kerryvisionary. There is so much wrong with this administration that it is hard even knowing where to begin. Thank you for trying to make a difference. Your idealism is inspiring!