'We are not blinking!'
By Steve Benen Sunday Jun 01, 2008 8:00pmRetired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, in his new book, shares an anecdote about the president that probably won’t surprise anyone, but is nevertheless discomforting.
Among the anecdotes in “Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story” is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the president.
During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a “confused” pep talk:
“Kick ass!” he quotes the president as saying. “If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.”
“There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!”
The White House had no comment when asked about Sanchez’s anecdote. I can’t say I’m surprised — how does one respond to presidential remarks like these?
Melissa McEwan added, “I wonder if they were actually on the phone with Bush, or if he was off riding his bike, leaving behind a lackey to pull the string on the back of the slogan-chanting Bush action figure.”
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Why is only the draft dodging chickenhawks that make up the Bush regime are the only ones who love the troops and the military officers hate the troops so?
Sanchez is tied to what happend at Abu Graib.
Don’t tie yourself to him.
“Kick ass!” he quotes the president as saying. “If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can’t send that message. It’s an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.”
Nothing worse than a dim-witted egomaniac with power.
Actually, It sounds like something Saddam Hussein would have said..
mudshark @ 4:
kinda,
The Kill Them part.
Not that we didn't already know it, but this proves Bush is a certifiable fucking loon.
Now I lay me down to sleep, please, (insert your favorite deity here), don't let this idiot attack Iran.
so he was more like hitler in private than the insiders let on.
murderer.
sociopath.
presidentfuhrer of the united states."We are not blinking."
Not "blinking" sane.
Watch " The Downfall" . Its quite similar...
to sad romans didnt make movies or we cold watch "nero" to compare...
"......the march to democracy..." ?? There is no march to democracy. He must have meant fascisism. Yeah, that's it. The march to fascisism.
The sad part is, the 26-percenters are gonna read these quotes and just love him that much more. Nothing like a little bout of mouth-breathing anger to stir the soulless minions.
And don't think for a minute that they'd comprehend the mind-melting irony that's involved in a draft-dodging coward talking like this.
Anyone remember The Fuggs (I think it was), with their song, 'Kill, Kill, Kill for Peace'....?
Thats one hell of a quote!
after all is said and done a pretzel will be considered to have been the only true patriot in the USA after 2000 :-)))))
Well, most U.S. citizens thought that going to war with Iraq and not keeping the fight in Afghanistan was wrong. We, on these blogs, have been saying this all along. But of course, we don’t have the credentials of Gen Sanchez.
Bushs' minions can throw flower on him if they want, but, In the court of Global Opinion bush is guilty of War Crimes. In my travels I hear of it often.
If I were a praying type or superstitious I’d be mumbling over beads and throwing salt over my shoulders hoping for trials to happen.
Democracy wont be able to heal unless there is some accountability.
This is typical banter of a coward. A man who ducked service when it was his obligation to serve. A man of little self worth who is unable to defend himself and who would egg on others to fight in his stead. A gutless yellow belly swine. What soldier could possibly ever be motivated by this dimwitted slug.
Real military men who served as President be they Washington, Jackson, Grant, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy or even GHW Bush would have never uttered such empty asinine rhetoric.
George W. Bush has no shame.
Has Bush ever said anything that wasn't "confused"?
Scary stuff. I can't believe millions of voters thought we'd be safer with this lunatic's finger on the button.
Well - actually, I can believe it. This sounds exactly like the rationale most of the Republican callers to C-SPAN give when they're calling in support of the war.
Strange that many of the same folks glorifying violence are the ones terrified and appalled that people are having sex out there. I mean, wouldn't we all be a lot happier with a lot more of the latter and a lot less of the former?
Is anybody surprised by Bush's words? What a dipshit.
Dateline Baghdad 2108 @ 16:
I wonder if GHWB grits his teeth when he reads about his son.
"If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell!
Fuels the Tillman conspiracy big time.
me and myself @ 21:
Gives a kind of twisted meaning to "Live Free of Die" don't it?
Here's the White Houses response.. "Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories" - President George W. Bush at the United Nations - November 10, 2001
"We must speak the truth about terror." -- George W. Bush
If I were a believer in the grand delusion I would pray for a well placed Pretzel.
Scary stuff. I can’t believe millions of voters thought we’d be safer with this lunatic’s finger on the button.
And there are millions out there, right now, who want to replace Bush's finger with McCain's! That's super-double scary.
WOW! Just...wow!
Dipshit sure is a real muthafuckin tough guy...now that Vietnam is over of course.
Gotta love cowards who've never seen one second of combat who get all their war strategies from Sands of Iwo Jima...
...having George W Bush as a president,
...is a muthafckr
I found the lyrics. It's by the Fugs, only one 'g'.
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Near or middle or very far east
Far or near or very middle east
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
If you don't like the people
or the way that they talk
If you don't like their manners
or they way that they walk,
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
If you don't kill them
then the Chinese will
If you don't want America
to play second fiddle,
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
If you let them live
they might support the Russians
If you let them live
they might love the Russians
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
(spoken) Kill 'em, kill 'em, strafe those gook creeps!
The only gook an
American can trust
Is a gook that's got
his yellow head bust.
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, it'll
feel so good,
like my captain
said it should
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill it will give
you a mental ease
kill it will give
you a big release
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
written in the 1960s, I think. How little anything has changed...
There's nothing to do about it but get really high, suck on a helium balloon, and say it to each other over and over.
I would think that ageneral would have a responsibility to take some kind of action to reveal this to congress or the senate. Someone with an ability to control this fool. Oh, I forgot, the repugnantcants had control of both houses.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
There is a series of moments and this is one of them.
I'm going to start working this one into conversation.
“If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them!
That'll teach them to appreciate their freedom.
Who writes this stuff? Is that what passes for dialogue? We need a script doctor in here. Get Quentin Tarantino on the line. He pulled 'Crimson Tide' out of the dustbin for us. Let's try
"Kick ass!" (okay, it started well enough) "If someone tries to stop the march to democracy, we're gonna go all Mr. Woodman on they ass. Hear me? Up their nose with a motherfuckin' rubber hose, bitch!"
"So tell those bitches in congress that from here on in, we're Makabe-san in 'Kakushi-toride no san-akunin,' and what is Makabe-san like?"
(silence)
"I said, what is Makabe-san LIKE?"
(silence)
"You're seriously telling me that none of you bitches has ever seen 'Kakushi-toride no san-akunin?' Okay, then, we're motherfucking Obi-Wan Kenobi. You HAVE heard of HIM, right? We're Kenobi and we got the force and that's it, bitches!"
Hey everybody, according to some on this site, don't attack Bush for his incompetence, the troops had a choice not to fight this battle.
Bush... so eager to deal out death, yet lacks the wisdom to make any judgments.
Ojh and all you "I'm gonna vote for McInsane if my candidate doesn't get nominated people" . . . THIS is what you are voting for as you pitch your fit. To hell with you.
We have to freedomize the Iraqificators!
Pawn @ 35:
Well I suppose they could have mutinied en masse but that usually happens at the end of disastrous wars.
Scy @ 37:
this is what you are voting for!http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Clinton_Obama_and_McCain_voted_FOR_the_Patriot_Act
hell w/ you too!
"There is a series of moments and this is one of them"
Wait..here comes another one...and there it goes.
Bush: A stupid president for stupid people.
Pawn @ 35:
And what choice would that be? Federal prison?
You want to hear the little cooze get really excited, declare US acceptance of ICJ jurisdiction and let him explain what he meant in the Hague.
Ron @ 30:
and they still do.
We could have randomly picked a better president off the street.
Bush, a dude with a Texas 'ranch' that has no livestock, crops or anything else (besides brush). And he's afraid of horses. He imagines (and believes) himself to be John Wayne, GI Joe and Rambo combined.
Pathetic. And extremely scary.
Anyone have ANY IDEA AT ALL what GW means when he says "democracy" or "the march to democracy" ???
‘We are not blinking!’
Lay off the Belladonna eyedrops, and maybe you can.
milquetoast @ 40:
obama did NOT vote for the patRIOT act. stop lying.
MillionthMonkey - I think we did.
Bush is so big on letting 'history' decide on his so-called presidency. Here's a bit of history from another president.
"I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center."
"I deplore the need or the use of troops anywhere to get American citizens to obey the orders of constituted courts."
"The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."
"There is - in world affairs - a steady course to be followed between an assertion of strength that is truculent and a confession of helplessness that is cowardly."
and my all-time favourite:
"Things are more like they are today than they have ever been before."
Oh, for the good old days, when presidents actually had brains AND a sense of humour!
nuremberg II @ 44:
Yes! There has to be accountability. He can't be allowed to just walk away from all the horror he has caused.
calgarylady @ 47:
It all started when some feckless idiot handed him his first Clancy novel. It was all downhill from there.
By the way, that was Eisenhower...
pinkobait @ 41:
I think I just had one too...
I felt like killing them ...just for a sec
I also felt strong and confident like I was gonna wipe them out ...fleeting but vivid...
It was a mindset. ..but we cant send that message.
anyone wonder how boosh plans to extend his term?
39 Peter G Says: Pawn @ 35:
Hey everybody, according to some on this site, don’t attack Bush for his incompetence, the troops had a choice not to fight this battle.
Well I suppose they could have mutinied en masse but that usually happens at the end of disastrous wars.
I recall reading that some World War I French troops mutinied en masse over their rations, which were admittedly very poor. They received a tin of spoiled or fatty/gristly meat in rancid oil (sounds like Spamor McDonalds) and a turnip. The mutinee was quelled(sp?) by some other French troops, who then had to execute the mutineers in a mass firing squad.
To this day the French government denies it ever happened.
So this is what 'drunk with power' sounds like. It sounds just like drunk on whiskey.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 56:
BTW, the US Gov't brokered the deal, which was otherwise totally illegal!
calgarylady @ 47:
Think Ronald Reagan.
"This Vietnam stuff"?
Must be from the movies.
This is what you get when the Supreme Court appoints a braindead male cheerleader to be president.
I have to agree with the above comment- I'd say about 95% of Americans, at least, could have done a far better job than Dumya. The only way to do THIS bad a job is to be intentionally trying, which they obviously were. Now if we picked a random person, it's pretty unlikely they would want to be the worst president in US history.
MountainMan23 @ 48:
yes, the same thing he means when he talks about "Terrists"
kablooie @ 58:
unfortunately, there was no slur - expressed or implied.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 50:
To be factual Obama did vote yea for the reauthorization in 2006. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...
“I wonder if they were actually on the phone with Bush, or if he was off riding his bike, leaving behind a lackey to pull the string on the back of the slogan-chanting Bush action figure.”
An incoherent bunch of sentence fragments, mixed metaphors, and stale bumper sticker slogans thrown together into a bleating rant? That was no action figure with a pull cord on the back. That was our boy.
kablooie @ 58:
unfortunately, there was no slurred speech - expressed or implied. (oops!)
Peter G @ 65:
which is a completely different matter.
milquetoast @ 63:
Bush knows how to play the opposite game!
Peter G, I think we are all on Mount Everest ...
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 50:
I know the link didnt post but just copy and paste it and wake up! ...and dont call me a liar "you asshat"
This doesn't sound like the Ricky we knew. He will have friends on the left for a few hours and then they will ditch him.
ysbaddaden @ 57:
Jo @ 43:
This type of history is very important to show what the consequences are if a solier makes the tough decision to ignore orders
calgarylady @ 70:
Now did any body think to bring a map showing the way down because that first step is what I believe is called a "doozy".
it gets even better:
No, that's not a typo. The outgoing US commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan says it would require 400,000 troops to secure that country.
ISAF Commander McNeill has said himself that according to the current counterterrorism doctrine, it would take 400,000 troops to pacify Afghanistan in the long term. But the reality is that he has only 47,000 soldiers under his command, together with another 18,000 troops fighting at their sides as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and possibly another 75,000 reasonably well-trained soldiers in the Afghan army by the end of the year. All told, there is still a shortfall of 260,000 men.
Gen Dan McNeill is one of the straight-shooters of the US military, he says what he means and says it when it needs said. Four hundred thousand troops. As opposed to the less than 200,000 sent to Iraq for the Surge.
Worse, it costs the U. S. three times to maintain a soldier in Afghanistan that it costs it to maintain a soldier in Iraq. Consequently, the U. S.'s maintaining a force of 400,000 in Afghanistan would cost us nearly ten times what we're spending in Iraq right now.
and the war is excalating!
[Deleted. Off topic-Sitemonitor]
Oh man, it would be so sweet to have that audio. That is exactly what I would do with it too — take it to Todd McFarlane or ToyBiz or Hasbro and have a Commander Codpiece Action Figure made. Maybe we can just get Will Ferrell to record that screed. But, good as he is, even he couldn't muster the maniacal tones of dementia that quote requires. Great Jumping Jeepers. He's crazy as a shit house rat. Please, somebody, get him away from the "football".
I"m a Uniter.
Not a Divider.
I'm the Decider.
Koo Koo Ka Choo
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 68:
Perhaps. The reauthorization still sucks and limits personal liberties. Clinton, Obama and McCain all voted for it. Pretty hard to vote against something called the Patriot Act when you plan on running for the presidency.
I felt sorry for the soldiers already...then they have to listen to this drivel? God, that must be depressing. Decent young men and women, on the whole, dying for this delusional fool.
Peter G @ 74:
we better grow wings.
Peter G @ 78:
that's true. the 2006 vote still sux. but it puts them all on the same level. kucinich voted his conscience and was my first choice. thems the breaks.
This latest revealed rant by madman Bush leads me to conclude that the United States is irreparably split between insane Republicans who will do anything to win power and clueless Democrats who still seek a naive, kumbayah-like "let's smoke-um peace pipe" partisan approach to politics.
I am already severing ties with acquaintances, friends and even family members who happen to be right wing Republicans, and if McCain wins in November I will sever my ties with this preposterously hypocritical, blood-thirsty country as well.
For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why Bush and his fellow criminals are still walking the streets. They should be stopped by whatever means are necessary to preserve what's left of this country.
Yup, Jo. It's clear that the Constitution can't stand up to modern totalitarian methods like perpetual war, The Big Lie, or media concentration and co-option. It needs support from the civilized world, and there are two convenient ways to get that: the International Court of Justice, and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. In joining the UN we put ourselves under ICJ jurisdiction. If Congress can't control our falangists, the outside world will have to. We also acceded to the ICCPR. That provides for external monitoring of our human rights progress. We need that until we can control our government again. We still need to recognize the competence of Human Rights Committees under ICCPR Article 41. That process is kind of toothless, but it's something.
This is just going to get worse and worse until we see Bush in war-crimes court.
and we have such a great foreign policy in general:
But the car bombing on Monday, which killed at least six people, was believed to be a one-off and would not scupper peace talks between the Islamist rebels and Pakistan's new government, a senior government official said.
Security officials said a stolen car with fake diplomatic plates was used in the bombing and that the explosives were of a type used in previous attacks attributed to Taliban militants in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
that 'not talking' thing is working so well.
Peter G @ 78:
WTF is that supposed to mean? I guess that could be true if nobody ever read what was in the patriot act... ...but you have read the patriot act right? right????!
As the evidence mounts…not that it wasn’t quite considerable to begin with…that Bush is a full-blown sociopath with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
The only time his expressions are genuine are when he smirks, and when he looks angry. Most every other time, his eyes are shifty, he blinks a LOT, and he has other ticks that any poker player would exploit in a heartbeat. His grin and trademark smirk appear most often when he is discussing the death penalty, troops and contractors dying, tragedies, speaking about his own (the wealthy) favorably, or speaking about others (the poor) quite arrogantly. Classic sociopathic behavior.
He surrounds himself with “yes men”. He fires everyone who disagrees with his preconceived notions. He sends his attack dogs against anyone and everyone who publicly points out mistakes, or who has left his administration and reports the malfeasance going on therein. He never admits when he is wrong, never backs down, never apologizes, and never compromises in any way. He is a classic example of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
He is mentally unfit for office, in the extreme. Men and women like him unfortunately strive for power. The Stalins, the Hitlers, the Mussolinis. All of them share these common traits of a lack of empathy for the plights of their fellow man, and surrounding themselves with only those who would nod and parrot said leader’s own feelings, no matter how wrong they may be.
big, big wings ... we've got big, big doozies headed our way ...
Peter G @ 65:
then he did vote for the patriot act! yes?
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 81:
I agree that's why I did not make any distinction between them. Still it shows why I take Senator Obama's assertion that he would have voted against the war powers bill with a grain of salt. What you do when you're actually in the hot seat is quite a bit different then when you're speaking to a friendly crowd. Frankly his vote shows that he is an astute politician. The only way you can vote against something called the Patriot Act is if you don't care a rodent's rectum what anybody thinks. A luxury presidential candidates can seldom afford.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory @ 68:
apples and oranges , both are fruits!
Here's a previous comment that will tell you how we ended up with George W. Bush as President two times over:
Ruthless People Says: "Why is only the draft dodging chickenhawks that make up the Bush regime are the only ones who love the troops and the military officers hate the troops so?"
I'd love to think he or she is being ironic or sarcastic, but I have the feeling they actually believe Bush is good and Sanchez is bad.
"... This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close..."
That's some big ass talk... for a stateside deserter.