Dems Iraq trip axed, reason: "People are shootin' at us. It's a war zone"

[shockingelk]

A gem buried in an NPR Morning Edition report on Iraq funding request:

In light of the four Repubs reporting things are going great in Iraq, Chris Dodd and three other House Dems were denied a visit to Iraq ... Tom Korologos, senior counselor to Bremer explains why: "Its just not like going to Bethany Beach. It's a war zone. People are shooting at us." Translation: "We have to plan a good trip for them ..."

RealPlayer, segment starts at about 1:40 ... "Congress Debates Iraq Funding"
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=15-Oct-2003&prgId=3

Here's a story about the dem's nixed request for trip - fourteen hours old:

http://www.thehill.com/news/101503/reconstruction.aspx

“For whatever reason, Sens. Dodd and others who requested the opportunity to travel were prohibited from doing so, and I think that requires a better explanation that the one I’ve been given so far,” Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said.

...

“The trip would have given us a great perspective,” Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) said. “It’s unfortunate that it didn’t happen. I hope it wasn’t a matter of politics.” He said the Pentagon told him there no planes were available to ferry the group from Jordan to Iraq.

...

Other planes in the same fleet are made available to senior administration officials and members of Congress through the office of Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff.

[Mari333]

1. A REAL soldier speaks

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00105.htm

and its worse then anyone knows.

[trogdor]

2. My ears are ringing!

Holy jumpin' jesus this guy's pissed off!

[shockingelk]

6. well, this guy would be biased the other way

read excerpt:

"I have a four year degree in the economics field and I am not a soldier all the time. I am Reservist who just keeps getting caught on long duty assignments. Believe it or not I read authors like Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, and Jim Hightower, and went through three copies of ‘Stupid White Men’ by Michael Moore while I was over there. I let people read parts of Mike’s book and they were irate that Bush had screwed us so hard. I had parts of ‘Best Democracy Money Can Buy’ mailed to me because I knew if I had the whole book it would get stolen in a heartbeat."

[bambo53]

9. Wait a minute!

That is extreme propaganda from the left side there. Lets try to stay above that nonsense, dammit, it will only hurt us!

Read the questions only in this article, just the questions ... and answer honestly, are they leading questions?

[Tinoire]

12. Extreme propaganda from the Left - What a strange statement

Surely you're not saying that this is untrue? This is not the first time soldiers have spoken out. Just curious- do you find the Bush, Rummy and CNN fantasy being pushed by the Right more believable?

[bambo53]

15. No, no, , not at all,

I agree with you and I'm on your side for Christs sake...

I'm simply saying that if you read that particular article that the poster before me put up, it reeks of left wing propaganda!

Read the questions only, then decide if they are fair.

Lets stay above the fray, lest we become propagandists too

[Tinoire]

17. I think they're more than fair

I know NCOs in Iraq right now who are chomping at the bit to say the same thing without even being asked. It may be a left wing source but I will assure you it's not propaganda.

It your use of the term propaganda that leaves me uncomfortable because that's often a term used to marginalize and minimize the truth.

[Tinoire]

14. We are dying for oil and corporate greed!

CFTM-- “Just keep going, I want to hear more about the hardships the military and Bush made you go through. I want the American people to know what a nightmare this war has become and what it’s doing to our service men over there.”

<snip>

CFTM-- -“So you were getting one a day killed and at least five injured? Did you know many of the guys killed?”

USA-- -“That’s a real dumb fu..ing question to ask me. You know what my rank is, of course I knew them, I was the head NCO for years in our unit. I knew most of the guys who died and I held a lot of hands as they were dying. You tell me that’s not gonna to give you nightmares!”

“I had one guy tell me all he wanted was to see his little daughter; she was born three days after the war started. He died in the sand holding my hand and crying because his daughter would never know him. Tell me that’s fu..ing right. Where was George Bush when this kid was gasping for air and spitting his blood on foreign soil?”

<snip>

“That is one thing the American people still have not really caught on to is the fact that while they were screaming out ‘Support Our Troops’ the current regime makers were fu..ing the military and veterans out of almost every social program and non essential service that would make life easier.”

“Bush really fu..ked us while we were gone. We found out about after being in the middle of heavy fighting for several weeks. It was one of the first things I read in Stars and Stripes, and I thought it was a joke because it was just to hard to believe Congress and our leaders would screw us that bad while we were fighting and dying.” ((AND I WANT DEM ACCOUNTABILITY HERE! NO MORE HEAD BURYING ABOUT HOW GREAT OUR GUYS ARE!))

<snip>
CFTM-- -“Glad you brought that up about counseling because I wasn’t even aware of it. Are you alright to talk about some of the civilian casualties you witnessed and some of the horrifying images you told me about when we first started talking?”

USA-- -“I want to talk about some of the children I saw killed for no reason, maybe it will wake someone up who doesn’t believe it was happening, or that it was very bad. I can tell you I will never forget the screams of the wounded or orphaned kids, or the wailing of the parents who lost their kids. The Iraqis and most Muslims have a very vocal way of mourning the dead by lamenting and wailing for the dead. There is no mistaking a mother or father crying out in pain for the loss of a child. They don’t cry like that unless there has been a death. Sometimes after a bombing raid or an artillery attack you could here hundreds of people wiling and weeping.”

“I have several grown children with grand kids about the age of most of the dead children I saw in Iraq. I also have several kids who are about half grown and I saw a lot of Iraqi children that age wandering around in charge of three or four little ones because their parents were dead.”

“Let me tell you about the cluster bomb raid we saw wipe out a whole bunch of little kids. It looked like they had already lost their parents and were trying to salvage food from a destroyed Iraqi convoy by the side of the road we were on. The kids were way off to the side about half a mile away by then when we got the word that the Iraqi column was going to be hit with cluster bombs and we had to clear the area. We got on the radio and tried to get the air strike stopped but we were told it was too late to get it stopped.”

“We could see the body parts flying up into the air after the bombs hit. It was terrible and we could not do a damn thing but watch it happen and scream into the radio at the dumb sh.t pilot that was dropping the bombs. After the strike was over we went to see if there were any survivors and all we found was bits and pieces of little kids and here and there an arm or leg you could still identify.”

<snip>

-“Yeah! Wake up America! Your sons and daughters are dying for nothing! This war is not about freedom or stopping terrorism. Bring us home now! We are dying for oil and corporate greed!”

KUCINICH 2004!!! The only one who seems to be willing to do this!

[leftchick]

19. Thanks Mari...this deserves it's own thread!

listen to how the Military threatens these soldiers...

<snip>The following interview was with an enlisted man, but someone very high up in the enlisted ranks, with over 20 years of military service. I have promised not to reveal his identity for reasons that he has a family and has been told not to speak to journalists. He told me the Army had put a gag order on him while he was home, and told him they would give him twenty years in prison if he spoke out in any manner against the US or the government.

...sickening beyond belief!

[LoneStarLiberal]

3. As the Church Lady Would Say...

..."how conveeeeeeeee-nient!"

[fob]

4. It seems as if the reality of the situation impugns the repugs

glowing report!

Daschle missed a golden opportunity; If everything is as the repugs say it is, what's the problem? The problem is even with a first-hand visit, they still rely on their faith-based intelligence!

[Fridays Child]

16. Daschle is a well-trained circus dog.

He rolls over and plays dead on command.

[neebob]

5. They don't want anyone looking with a critical eye

who doesn't have to answer to the GOP. Like you really need critical eyes to know what's going on in Iraq. Anyone who can watch the tiny bit of "bad news" that makes it through the so-called liberal media filter and not know it's a hundred times worse must have their head in a dark place. If things are going so well, why are there no embedded reporters anywhere? Duh.

[demnan]

7. this joins the "Well, Duh!" department

[zbdent]

8. Could it be that the Repugs who went there (and gave such glowing

astroturf reports of their visit - nearly identical language - good script) didn't actually go to Iraq or Afghanistan, but went to a Hollywood movie lot set up somewhere in a friendly area of desert, got to see a bunch of bad Indian actors (or whatever), and came back to say "What a country! The kids were coming up to us and saying, in broken english, thank you!".

Here, sign this. It's what we're saying you think. If you don't sign this, guess who's first in line for point man on the next patrol?

[shockingelk]

10. Operation Capicorn One! n/t

[KharmaTrain]

11. Ministry Of DisInformation

What's the use of a junket anyway? They'd be a part of a staged photo-op...and if one of says anything positive, it'll be used and spun against Democrats and us.

We need more reports from inside the country as to what's going on and one brave media outlet that is willing to blow this thing open for the good of the country.

So few have a clue what this $87 billion is really about and who it's going to...when you point it out, they get very, very pissed.

[Fridays Child]

13. Bush has hijacked the debate from WMD/9-11 to progress in rebuilding Iraq.

And the media and Democrats in Congress are letting him get away with it. Instead of putting the White House on the defensive about oil and sweetheart corporate contracts, Daschle and company have allowed the dialog to be determined by the White House.

And what better issue to talk about than the subjective and easily manipulated topic of progress in rebuilding Iraq? It's pretty difficult to dodge and dissemble on the stunning absence of WMDs but it's simple to point out a few examples of progress (in the rebuilding of a country which we never should have destroyed in the first place) amid the chaos of functional anarchy and guerrilla warfare.

We can't let the Dems and the media keep giving this administration "get out of jail free" cards. Americans are dying in Iraq, and the reasons for their sacrifice fall unforgivably short of noble or necessary war. Bush needs to pay for his crimes.

[rocktivity]

18. If the Dems are going to be dissed so flagrantly

They should sit on the 87 billion dollars if they can't see for themselves what's going on!!!


rocknation

[gratuitous]

20. Responsible opposing viewpoints

Are unlawful under the USA PATRIOT Act. Please go back to watching Fox. That is all.