Rumsfeld's 'Hit Back' ( I heard him Sunday on abc--He was really

[rodeodance]

in an attach mode.



----- Original Message -----
From: American Progress Action Fund
To: xxxx
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 11:13 AM
Subject: Progress Report: Rumsfeld's 'Hit Back'




IRAQ
Rumsfeld's 'Hit Back'

Fresh from his trip to Australia, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld yesterday made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows as the Bush administration official to "hit back" against Iraq war critics. (Vice President Cheney will continue the campaign in a speech this morning at 11:00 A.M.) Rumsfeld tried his best to deflect calls for troop redeployment, charges that the White House manipulated intelligence to sell its war in Iraq, and that progress in Iraq has stalled. But instead of offering strategies and plans, Rumsfeld followed the lead of his colleagues and gave the American people excuses. "We're consistently passing off responsibility," said Rumsfeld on Fox News Sunday, referring to the transfer of power from U.S. troops to Iraqi soldiers. But Rumsfeld's statement rings true on other fronts, as the White House passes off responsibility for its failures in the Iraq war onto lawmakers, U.S. soldiers, and the American public.

RUMSFELD SAID CALLS FOR REDEPLOYMENT AID TERRORISTS: The White House has been sharply criticizing Rep. John Murtha's (D-PA) call for the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." Rumsfeld continued this strategy in his four Sunday television appearances, linking dissent against the administration to harm for Iraqi citizens, the American people, and for U.S. troops, and to aid for terrorists: "e also have to understand that our words have effects. ... Put yourself in the shoes of the enemy. The enemy hears a big debate in the United States, and they have to wonder, maybe all we have to do is wait, and we’ll win." Rumsfeld also condoned the White House attacks on Murtha, comparing the congressman to movie producer Michael Moore, stating, "Whatever the president said, I -- you quoted him. I agree with the president."

RUMSFELD'S REWRITE OF PREWAR HISTORY: Rumsfeld was unable to face reality on the inaccuracy of the administration's prewar intelligence and his own role in the war. On ABC, Rumsfeld insisted, "I didn't advocate invasion." In 2002, Newsweek reported Rumsfeld was "the most visible and certainly the most colorful frontman for attacking Iraq." He was still unwilling to admit that Iraq had no nuclear weapons at the time of the 2003 Iraq war, insisting that "Al Qaida...had some connection with the Saddam Hussein regime." (The 9/11 commission concluded there was no collaborative relationship.) Rumsfeld also parroted the popular but untrue right-wing talking point that the Silberman-Robb Commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee have concluded the administration did not manipulate intelligence. In reality, those investigations have not examined the administration's use of prewar intelligence. But don't expect an apology from Rumsfeld for the administration's falsehoods. On CNN, Rumsfeld violated the White House's "no-fingerpointing" policy and passed off responsibility to the CIA: "Why would the Department of Defense -- it's the intelligence community that made the intelligence." The secretary must have forgotten about the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans "set up by...Rumsfeld, to second-guess CIA information and...proved powerful enough to prevail in a struggle with the State Department and the CIA by establishing a justification for war."

AVOIDING REALITY ON THE GROUND IN IRAQ: Rumsfeld thinks Iraq is going just fine and questioning the country's progress and the war "is really a great disservice to the country" . Despite reports that Iraq has become "a real-world laboratory for militants to improve their skills in urban combat," the increasing number of insurgents, and this past weekend marking "one of the deadliest three-day periods since the American invasion," Rumsfeld believes Iraq is making "significant progress." The secretary also ignored reports by top U.S. generals that the "number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one," calling the claim "a red herring" . Despite the rise in insurgent attacks, Rumsfeld reassured the public that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "is not going to win a popularity contest." What Rumsfeld didn't offer: concrete, reliable measures of progress to the Senate.

[soothsayer]

1. As long as that vampire doesn't try to 'attach' to me, lol!

[skipos]

2. Wow this this the lamest quote ever...

"linking dissent against the administration to harm for Iraqi citizens, the American people, and for U.S. troops, and to aid for terrorists."

[XOKCowboy]

3. They have such an incredible spin machine

and the corporate media just goes right along with them. It's amazing. All they have to do is just keep repeating their lies over and over again and before long the lies become "the truth".

On the Today Show this morning Katie Couric repeated the Talking Point that Rep. Murtha called for an "immediate" pullout from Iraq and Carville calmly pointed out that he never said that. To her credit Katie did correct herself.

[cliss]

4. Rumsfailed thinks Iraq is going just fine....

Here's a little-known quote which shows what Rumsfailed thinks of his own troops: At the beginning of the war, the complaints started coming in about U.S. troops getting killed in Iraq.

Rumsfool said, "There are more people getting killed in car accidents in this country than troops are getting killed in Iraq".

This quote was quickly pulled, because it made Rumsfailed seem calloused and insensitive.

Really? NO kidding.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

5. Video of him & Stephanopoulos

http://dailydissent.org/video/thisweek112005a.wmv