So does this make him a terrorist dupe or an active traitor? Decisions, decisions...
How long before some wingnut starts screaming "Sedition!"? Possibly faster than you can say "Swift Boat":
Former National Security Agency Director Lt. General William Odom dissected the strategic folly of the Iraq invasion and Bush Administration policies in a major policy speech at Brown University for the Watson Institute- America’s Strategic Paralysis . "The Iraq War may turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in American history. In a mere 18 months we went from unprecedented levels of support after 9-11..to being one of the most hated countries…Turkey used to be one of strongest pro-US regimes, now we’re so unpopular, there’s a movie playing there- Metal Storm, about a war between US and Turkey. In addition to producing faulty intel and ties to Al Qaida, Bush made preposterous claim that toppling Saddam would open the way for liberal democracy in a very short time... Misunderstanding the character of American power, he dismissed the allies as a nuisance and failed to get the UN Security Council’s sanction… We must reinforce international law, not reject and ridicule it."
Odom, now a Yale professor and Hudson Institute senior fellow, was director of the sprawling NSA (which monitors all communications) from 1985-88 under Reagan, and previously was Zbigniew Brzezinski's assistant under Carter. His latest 2004 book is America's Inadvertent Empire.
Even if the invasion had gone well, Odom says it wouldn't have mattered: "The invasion wasn't in our interests, it was in Iran's interest, Al Qaida's interest. Seeing America invade must have made Iranian leaders ecstatic. Iran's hostility to Saddam was hard to exaggerate.. Iraq is now open to Al Qaida, which it never was before - it's easier for terrorists to kill Americans there than in the US.. Neither our leaders or the mainstream media recognize the perversity of key US policies now begetting outcomes they were designed to prevent… 3 years later the US is bogged down in Iraq, pretending a Constitution has been put in place, while the civil war rages, Iran meddles, and Al Qaida swells its ranks with new recruits.. We have lost our capacity to lead and are in a state of crisis - diplomatic and military."
You know a part of me wishes I could feel good about this, smug and gloating about the voices of reason finally speaking out about what was glaringly obvious to me all the way back in 2001. Fuck, the minute Bush uttered the word "crusade" after 9/11 I knew that's precisely what he was going to give us, that he was seeing himself as Richard the Lionheart riding off to vanquish the Saracen infidels. It was as plain as day that this was going to end badly, but even I couldn't have forseen just how badly. I don't feel pleased about being proven right, not in the slightest, instead I feel a little ill, very sad, and mostly pissed.
Where were these voices in 2004? Did these specialists and military men only recognize the futility, barbarity and stupidity of this grand clusterfuck this year? Or was it that they needed to retire from their positions before finding their backbones again? It's nice that he and the retired generals are finally speaking out about what is patently, glaringly, and oh so pianfully obvious, and maybe, just maybe it will halt the even grander clusterfuck looming in Iran...but somehow I doubt it. It's too little too late. I hope these public declarations ease their conscience a little, but it won't begin to wash away the blood on their hands.
Former National Security Agency Director Lt. General William Odom dissected the strategic folly of the Iraq invasion and Bush Administration policies in a major policy speech at Brown University for the Watson Institute- America’s Strategic Paralysis . "The Iraq War may turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in American history. In a mere 18 months we went from unprecedented levels of support after 9-11..to being one of the most hated countries…Turkey used to be one of strongest pro-US regimes, now we’re so unpopular, there’s a movie playing there- Metal Storm, about a war between US and Turkey. In addition to producing faulty intel and ties to Al Qaida, Bush made preposterous claim that toppling Saddam would open the way for liberal democracy in a very short time... Misunderstanding the character of American power, he dismissed the allies as a nuisance and failed to get the UN Security Council’s sanction… We must reinforce international law, not reject and ridicule it."
Odom, now a Yale professor and Hudson Institute senior fellow, was director of the sprawling NSA (which monitors all communications) from 1985-88 under Reagan, and previously was Zbigniew Brzezinski's assistant under Carter. His latest 2004 book is America's Inadvertent Empire.
Even if the invasion had gone well, Odom says it wouldn't have mattered: "The invasion wasn't in our interests, it was in Iran's interest, Al Qaida's interest. Seeing America invade must have made Iranian leaders ecstatic. Iran's hostility to Saddam was hard to exaggerate.. Iraq is now open to Al Qaida, which it never was before - it's easier for terrorists to kill Americans there than in the US.. Neither our leaders or the mainstream media recognize the perversity of key US policies now begetting outcomes they were designed to prevent… 3 years later the US is bogged down in Iraq, pretending a Constitution has been put in place, while the civil war rages, Iran meddles, and Al Qaida swells its ranks with new recruits.. We have lost our capacity to lead and are in a state of crisis - diplomatic and military."
You know a part of me wishes I could feel good about this, smug and gloating about the voices of reason finally speaking out about what was glaringly obvious to me all the way back in 2001. Fuck, the minute Bush uttered the word "crusade" after 9/11 I knew that's precisely what he was going to give us, that he was seeing himself as Richard the Lionheart riding off to vanquish the Saracen infidels. It was as plain as day that this was going to end badly, but even I couldn't have forseen just how badly. I don't feel pleased about being proven right, not in the slightest, instead I feel a little ill, very sad, and mostly pissed.
Where were these voices in 2004? Did these specialists and military men only recognize the futility, barbarity and stupidity of this grand clusterfuck this year? Or was it that they needed to retire from their positions before finding their backbones again? It's nice that he and the retired generals are finally speaking out about what is patently, glaringly, and oh so pianfully obvious, and maybe, just maybe it will halt the even grander clusterfuck looming in Iran...but somehow I doubt it. It's too little too late. I hope these public declarations ease their conscience a little, but it won't begin to wash away the blood on their hands.