A perpendicular-symmetrical-oxymoron?

In the nation of Pakistan, the military is in charge of the political process; and military man Pervis Musharref is top dog -and the U.S.A. is dependent on him to hold things together.

In the United States of America of late, the military is making more sense than the civilian leadership in Washington - well in fairness, #43 and Rumsfeld paid zero attention to those dissenting voices of reason in the past.

And, since the new military governance has taken over at the DOD, and in CENTCOM et al (a group that stands up to #43 - no longer a group of assayer men and women), progress is being made in Iraq.

I detect a meaningful message in all of this somewhere!

And it is: A man who is surrounded by 'yes men and women', will never accept no for an answer!

I hope that #43 is getting some OJT!

It appears a possible mutiny among the general command should not be ruled out.. we have seen this threat under the Roman empire when emperor madmen, rule and lead their troops into disasterous and humiliating wars... The U.S army has been severaly degraded and humiliated by the Waffen S.S tactics of Blackwater.. Uniformed soldiers are seen as complicit in these crimes or guilty by association as both Black water boys and GI are seen as occupiers ... Bush and his henchman Cheney might be overthorwn in a palace or white house coup, that be would nice to see.. that's the only way it seems at this stage of the game to restore the republic and democractic not autocratic rule in the U.S ..Furthermore ,The generals are unlikely to follow his orders to bomb Iran..

Now that Bush appointee Rumsfeld has been put out to pasture, the Pentagon appears to be back on track.

And once the nation is rid of the entire Bush brigade, the country can get back track.

Clearly the former and current military leaders have a clearer understanding of the world, and what will and what will not work!

I know where retired generals go, but is there a place reserved somewhere for retired cheerleaders? Cheerleaders don't make good presidents.

Ed, your problem is you just don't take showers period. If you did, you wouldn't stink like the anti-American communist you do. If you really hate the Pentagon so much, why don't you leave for another country where they don't have to put up with all this peace and security? Maybe you would like life better in Chechnya or North Korea, perhaps? Don't bother answering, freedom of speech (and everything else defended by the Pentagon and the military) is obviously wasted on you.

When I hear the words DOD I can only think of filth. In fact sometimes I need to shower to try to get the stench off of me.That building we call the Pentagon is so intertwined with the Defence industry that its difficult to tell them apart.Eisenhower in his wildest dreams NEVER could have dreamed it this bad. I think the old days you were just referring to useless or to expensive weapons systems. Look where we are today. The repugs have learned to privatize war. They have literally made war the domain of the private sector. There is literally a private army in Iraq the same size as our Country's armed forces there. The priavte army does exactly what our real army did but we get to pay the private people 5x or better for the exact same service. I think Eisenhower had Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, Raytheon in mind not things like KGB,Halleburtin,Blackwater etc. The people at DOD and this Admin who allowed this to happen should be treated as war criminals. What the hell chance is there for this war to end in a timely fashion when theres so much money to be made. Sorry Dwight, never in your most wildest imagination could you have ever thought. There it goes again Ive mentioned the DOD and this Admin to many times. I have to shower again to get this stench off.

I do believe that Mr. Gates may be rational, hard though it may be for us to believe given what Shrub has given us before. I keep thinking that Gates must have been someone else's idea.

You don't don't have to look very far to see that the United States is very close to the line where it will be INCAPABLE of fighting another war, absent (1) an incredibly huge infusion of dollars, and all at once (by some estimates, we'll need $25 BILLION additional a year, each year for probably a bunch of them, see:

http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed093006b.cfm

and

(2) a "no one opts out" draft.

Some U.S. marine units are now on their fourth or fifth "tour" in Iraq. Some reservists and national guards men are on second or third tour. The machinery is being blown up or just plain falling apart faster than Shrub's cheese paring administration can contract out rebuilding it, possibly because they're contracting out so much else, for so much money.

But money can replace equipment. What we cannot replace is the men and women, or rebuild their families. For example,

Item: a significant number of men are returning home from Iraq with something called "combat hearing loss." No one knows whether (in general) it's temporary or permanent, although odds favor permanence. And what does DOD do? Cuts back on the number of audiologists and discourages the troops from getting checked out.

Item: The "signature" injury from this war is something called "traumatic brain injury." DoD and VA don't have a flipping clue about how to treat it properly, and the Bush administration has tried to defund the research dollars needed to even figure out what to do next.

Item: A significant number of combat and noncombat troops are returning with various levels of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder.) Waiting lines at the bases are so long that large numbers do not seek treatment, and DoD and VA have a vested interest in seeing that this is NOT diagnosed, because each diagnosis means one less body to throw into their war, and one more "combat disabled" veteran. I believe that they DELIBERATELY don't Dx this, so they don't have to pay to treat it or it's consequences. What you end up with is yet another street person, but the cost for that falls somewhere else.

And for what? So George can claim he did a better job than his Daddy? The terrorists NEVER were in Iraq, until George started his little adventure. If we'd gone after the REAL enemy--Osama bin Laden--who by all accounts sits safely, if not particularly comfortably--in the hills of Pakistan, cosseted and protected no doubt by Shrub and Condo's good buddy Pervez M, Osama would have remained, at most, a very small footnote in history.

George made him famous.

It is very hard on me to say this, but having just read Arkin's piece earlier in the day and having confirmed, just minutes ago from a BBC World Headline, that President George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have vowed to pursue the diplomatic road to settle the dispute about Iran's nuclear research actiovities (peaceful or otherwise), I conisder it my duty to myself to set it on record that I think that Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei should give a second hard look at whether more flexibilty in broader multilateral negotiations (broader meaning not just the Quartet but also Arab and Muslim neighbours, including Turkey and Pakistan) might not be more productive to Iranians' interest than a correct but rigid insistence on Iran's right to continue enriching uranium until the point where evey ambiguity is lifted that it is or it is not pursuing the weapons development path.

Some flexibility that also allows Bush to save face (but does not allow the GOP to win the next elections) might be more rewarding for America's longer term goals of both asserting its regional importance and reviving its trade and economic reforms and enhancing its diplomatic stature on the world stage.

anyone with any real level of common sense would see that to continue to over emphasize iraq while ignoring the more real dangers of afghanistan would lead one to indicate that a change of strategy is needed. troops levels should reduced in iraq and the "surge" shifted to afghanistan. and we should threaten pakistan with bombing along it's border region unless it restores democratic rights, lifts the state of emergency, and proceeds with elections forthwith. a couple of good bombing runs should shake the general out of his uniform and into a suit and tie in no time. this isn't about the u.s. versus pakistan, it's about saying to george bush and pervez musharraf that all deals are off unless the moderation of dictatorship and extremism occurs. while george bush verbally abuses venezuela and our nearest neighbor, cuba, he hasn't the personal courage to back up his words when it really counts. simply put, he is nothing more than a chickenhawk!

Pappy is trying to salvage the Bush family name - possibly so Jeb can use it it 4 years? I wonder what kind of woodshed experience it took to get Shrub to accept Gates. Funny how family secrets can change the fate of a nation - and tragic.

Conflict is inevitable. Usually we have a choice about how to address those conflicts. When you spend $480B preparing for war, the military is going to look like a more powerful tool than poorly funded diplomatic, economic, and social efforts. If you want to avoid war, you have to wage peace.

Settling conflict without war requires compromise. Compromise comes hard if you believe you (or America) are on the side of The Almighty and every other country is either less holy or positively allied with Satan.

Neocons take a liberal idea and turn it into a fundamentalist doctorine and an eschatological program. They've imported religious belief into a overtly secular domain. This is why they are too dangerous too govern.

I hope that a majority of the public has learned a lesson that will endure for a generation - but I have grave doubts.

God's in his heaven and all's right with the world. What God has over looked the free market will fix. The DOD is altering it aggressive mentality. In reality, the response to the present predicament is to enlarge the military. Congress has already started the legislative progress. I believe the Senator Clinton has voted in favor, but I don't know haw Obama voted.
It seems like the same old same old. Maybe we should accept the idea that we will have to really compromise on a regular basis. the Pentagon has long advocated the ability to fight three wars simultaneously which I assume is coherent with State Department thinking.

New Rule: Half a loaf with no war is better
than a war.

God's in his heaven and all's right with the world. What God has over looked the free market will fix. The DOD is altering it aggressive mentality. In reality, the response to the present predicament is to enlarge the military. Congress has already started the legislative progress. I believe the Senator Clinton has voted in favor, but I don't know haw Obama voted.
It seems like the same old same old. Maybe we should accept the idea that we will have to really compromise on a regular basis. the Pentagon has long advocated the ability to fight three wars simultaneously which I assume is coherent with State Department thinking.

New Rule: Half a loaf with no war is better
than a war.

Wouldn't we like to think that AMERICAN interests were paramount at
DOD today?

My own hope is that the degree to which
Israeli interests were in charge wil be made known to Americans. To stop further such.

Be nice if we had American military at Justice...or State where the takeovers continue.

Defense needed a good house cleaning. Gates is doing as well as he can under the circumstances.

The President listen?

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one!

Besides, didn't #43 abdicate his role as Commander-in-Chief several months ago?

Are you telling me that General Patraeus is not the Commander-in-Chief now?

"A common approach is to deny that the issue exists". Bush is a master at doing just that!

Author Ray Kurzwell

Dear Mr. Arkin,

Methinks their moderation comes a bit late.
What with our having made numerous deadly enemies over the last 6 years, even as the 34 top paid defense execs 'earned' a combined income of $1 BILLION dollars.

Do you REALLY BELIEVE the Pentagon and their industrial cronies will lift even one of their blood diamond encrusted ring fingers to stop those ill-gotten gains from rolling in as our soldiers die in resource wars planet-wide?

This shows what the right Secretary of Defense can do. I think Gates is great! Now if only Bush would use Baker for some diplomacy, may be the next 14 months won't be a nightmare.