Regarding Gov. Dean's comment .......

[H2O Man]

Flipping through the morning news, I saw a loud-mouthed fool on Fox, identified as "ManCow," ranting about Howard Dean's comment that the USA could not win the war in Iraq. As is the general tactic for those who appeal to emotion at the expense of common sense -- which is why Fox has this fellow on to begin with -- "ManCow" ignores what Dean actually said, and substitutes a lie instead. He went on to say that democrats get a kick out of US soldiers getting killed in Iraq, which is the exact opposite of the truth.

Normally, I think it is a good thing to avoid responding to Fox and their ilk. They have indeed missed their calling in life: rather than waste their time in media, they should be pursuing doctorates in the science of scatology .... because they can change hard facts into a soft fecal matter in the blink of an eye.

I am going to quote a paragraph from Seymour Hersch's 2004 book "Chain of Command" (Harper) that DUers should "cut & paste" for use in e-mailing Fox and other media sources. It shows clearly that Dean simply expressed a truth that others have said for a couple years now. From page 352:

"Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, who supported the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq, took it upon himself at about the same time to privately warn Vice President Dick Cheney that America had lost in Iraq; according to an American close to Barak, he said that Israel 'had learned that there's no way to win an occupation.' The only issue, Barak told Cheney, 'was choosing the size of your humiliation.' Cheney did not respond to Barak's assessment. (Cheney's office declined to comment.)"

Hersch includes information on how military experts recognize that while there is no way the US military is going to be defeated on the battle field per say, the insurgents will continue to gain strength and support as the occupation continues. History is a funny thing: sometimes when a leader starts a war based on a lie, the exact opposite of what he says will happen, actually does occur. Thus, it seems rather ironic that Bush/Cheney supporters attack Dean for telling the public what others have told the administration in private.

It is not just our allies in Israel that recognize what Fox does not want Howard Dean to tell the American public. Michael Scheuer, in "Imperial Hubris," (Brassey's, 2004), quotes Ayman al-Zawahiri from 2003: "We thank God for appeasing us with the dilemma in Iraq after Afghanistan. The Americans are facing a delicate situation in both countries. If they withdraw they will lose everything and if they stay, they will continue to bleed to death" (xxi).

Contrast this with the president's saying that he will accept nothing short of total victory. He assures the public that despite what is reported daily in the media, things are getting better in Iraq. Bush tells us that the US can get out only after training the Iraqi police and military.

Recent surveys show that more than 40% of the general population of Iraq believes that it is okay to attack the US soldiers who occupy their country. Common sense would indicate if 40% of the police and soldiers the US is training are okay with attacking our soldiers, we are not going to achieve the total victory that Bush believes he is entitled to.