Yellow Hair's Ghost Rides Again
by pessimist
It was a classic debacle.
Thanks to the discovery of a valuable mineral resource, foreigners came to a sovereign land to exploit this resource, and this sovereign land - defending itself against these invaders - made it impossible through their military response to do so. But the foreigners weren't easily dissuaded from the pursuit of their goals. They called upon their own nation to provide enough force to drive out the original occupants and thus open up the land for economic exploitation. That foreign nation responded as requested.
The Army went into the homeland of the enemy with a force too small to do the job, because the commander felt that he had sufficient numbers against which the enemy wouldn't stand - they would be too afraid to do so, thanks in no small part to the reputation of that Army. He felt he knew better than all of the experts who strongly advised him to abandon his plans and rethink his position.
Unfortunately for 263 out of over 650 of these soldiers, the commander was wrong - dead wrong.
It was 129 years ago today, in the Montana Territory, that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led the Seventh Cavalry against over 2500 of the enemy. As if representing the historical precedent to today's situation in Iraq, these soldiers lacked sufficient protection and weapons to conquer a numerically superior foe in their homeland. their leader also had a serious misunderstanding about how many soldiers it would take to defeat the alliance of the Lakota Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne (along with representations from other tribes), believing that he could go it alone successfully rather than await reinforcement from other Army units.
Custer sent in his troops before he was properly deployed, and in detachments too small individually to be of much use to defend themselves - much less the entire unit. About all he managed to do through these manouvers was raise the alarm within the Native camps before he was in position, and the aroused defense cause Custer to back away from his original plan and fall back to a new position - one which was already cut off from retreat, and which couldn't be adequately defended even if his impassioned plea for resupply and support from his detached units could have arrived in time.
We all know that this campaign ended badly. We also know that today's Bu$hCo 'Custers' aren't doing well in their campaign to secure control of valuable mineral resources.
King George was advised not to invade Iraq, not to go in without sufficient troops, not to go in without the clear support of the nations of the world instead of merely seeking a UN resolution, and not to stay for any length of time after ousting Saddam.
In addition, the Occupation troops lack armor at a time when Iraqi attacks are increasing in number and sophistication while Bu$hCo negotiates with the insurgents they cannot defeat.
As the US military is having trouble with recruiting, and more Americans are turning against the Oil War, and the world expresses its disapproval , Bush initiates a campaign to support the unsupportable because US troops wonder where the support went for the war that won't abate anytime soon.
It's a rich man's war and a poor man's fight, and those who support the war ought to fight it. But to no one's surprise, the loudest voices raised in support of the Oil War - the Young Republicans - support Iraq war, but not all are willing to join the fight.
College conservatives are rallying in Virginia today for the College Republican National Convention. Several bloggers have something to say about this:
Undercover From the CRNC : Canto II
Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council took the stage, noting with courageous enthusiasm, "There are some things that are worth fighting for." He proceeded to talk about the Iraq War, and some very heroic veterans (give credit where credit's due, 'sall good). Then he said, "They're giving their lives as you're giving your time."Right. These (military-age) folks helped create this war, but they're letting everybody else fight it.
The irony was lost on this crowd.
What else can one expect from those rich business management major kids who would refuse a paid anti-war ad for their program? [Via Kos]
Crooks and Liars attempted to place this ad in the Young Republican National Conference official program:
Their response:
I guess that the truth must be too negative, which is why Bu$hCo supporters hide behind such elaborate fallacies. As blogger Nico says in response to Tony Perkins' remark as presented above:
You know, you’ve got a point there, Tony. Just like our soldiers are dying in Iraq, campus conservatives are stapling flyers for an Ann Coulter speech to a kiosk. Basically the same thing.
Steve Gilliard has posted the harshest commentary about the Yellow Elephants:
Motherfucker, if being a soldier is so goddamn great, you can sign up at any recruiter you fucking choose. I see a bunch of healthy young men and women here. So why the fuck are they here and not at MCRD Parris Island or Ft. Jackson. If you love soldiers so goddamn much, go fucking be one. Take the oath. Your time doesn't mean dick. Not to the 11B's or the truck drivers or the ER nurses or surgeons or the orthopedics nurses. Your time? Fuck your time.Tell that to the families of five women marines. They have to bury their barely out of high school daughters, and you want to talk about your goddamn time? Time. Let's talk about your service. You love this war so goddamn much, go fucking be part of it. They can have their families cheerlead.
Fucking cowards. Hiding behind people who's asses they aren't fit to wipe.
One of these FCs has started a campaign - Operation “Convince Half Of America Who Still Just Don't Get It” - to remind King George that as Owwer Leedur he has work to do. He must be thinking this also, as he is trying to convince America of the rightness of his Oil War despite experts with better qualifications than any Bu$hCo operative taking the contrary view, supported by the evidence from the field. But with his popularity dropping, and his supporters spouting ill-conceived blather which supports the case of the Bu$hCo opposition, is it any wonder that more and more Americans feel that "This presidency ended my pride in America"?
I have a lapel button with this caption: “Proud to be an American, Ashamed of my government.” I will now have to revise the first part to read “No longer proud to be an American.”Lest we forget – the Iraq war, which he planned and sold to Congress and America, was based on lies and deceptions.
To call yourself compassionate, yet show no compassion for those who disagree with you and have no patience for those who cry out for help, that is immoral.
When you claim that our God is bigger than their God, and we are good, but they are evil, then we are like the enemy we are fighting, and that is immoral.
When your actions cause most of the world to hate a country that was once loved and respected, and then you act like it doesn’t matter what others think of us, that is immoral.
When you saddle the next generation with a monstrous debt to pay for a war we didn’t want, with no exit strategy and no end in sight, with thousands of brave American soldiers killed and wounded, and more thousands of innocent Iraqis dying, that is immoral.
And when you do all this under the guise of being Christian, you make a mockery of everything for which the Christian faith stands. This country is morally bankrupt. The claim of this administration to be Christian is bankrupt.
Bush should be ashamed. Where is all that compassion he so blithely talked about during the election campaign? Now we see him unmasked for what he really is – a phony who tosses cute words and phrases around to get votes and please his base. Is it any wonder that polls show his standing among Americans is at the lowest point of his presidency?
It is time to take back our country and remove these make-believe Christians from power. Our Constitution provides a way to do just that.
It is impeachment.
If ever a president was guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” Bush has qualified. It is time to stand up and demand that Congress take the necessary steps to begin the process of impeachment.
It may be a good thing that the C-Average Sovereign is not a reader, or else he might find this excerpt from Eric Hobsbawm's preface to a new edition of VG Kiernan's America: The New Imperialism:
All the great powers and empires of history knew that they were not the only ones, and none was in a position to aim at genuinely global domination. None believed themselves to be invulnerable. Even those who do not share the views of the old generals and proconsuls of the US world empire (which were those of Democratic as well as Republican administrations) will agree that there can be no rational justification of current Washington policy in terms of the interests of America's imperial ambitions or, for that matter, the global interests of US capitalism.
Just as Custer's buglers must have sounded the charge as the Seventh Cavalry rode to their fatal destiny, comments like these are a clarion call, a sounding of the claxon, a beating of the drum to assemble the forces of progression to defeat the forces of stupidity masquerading as conservatives. We have conservative allies to aid us in our quest, even if many of their ultimate goals aren't necessarily in step with ours. But they recognize that the process which made America what it is today is in great danger, and they are willing to stand on principle to defend it instead of toeing the party line.
The actions of the forces of mendaciou$ $tupidity masquerading as conservatives, and the consequences these actions cause, ARE in the news, despite the efforts of Bu$hCo media spin doctors, which are designed to lull us into a sense of doped tranquility. You've seen the stories presented on the Bu$hCo news, and you know of which I speak. Bu$h claims to have Iraq under control while British journalists are raising the questions Americans should be asking.
Could it be that mad cow disease isn't as important as stifling progressive art which mocks Bu$h? I doubt it - Taiwan has banned American beef, which should piss off Texas cattlemen. Enjoying that Big Mac?
Independents have already abandoned Bu$hCo, and business in general isn't too happy either.
Bu$h is losing all over the place, and he should be vary concerned should the Natives win their lawsuits to reclaim their land and evict the foreigners - considering his ancestral homelands in Old Europe aren't too likely to take him back either. He also can't hide in a hospital claiming chest pain like that other loser, 'Baghdad Bob' Cheney.
He's going to have to stand on that barren hillside and face the maddened horde. Poppy's buddies aren't going to be able to save him.
It's his scalp that will be taken this time.
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