CIA Expert to Bush/Cheney: "Get a Grip on Reality" of Iraq ("Civil War")

[Hissyspit]

Civil War w/Occupation. That's what I've been saying for quite a while. From SusanHu at DailyKos:

CIA Expert to Bush/Cheney: "Get A Grip On Reality" of Iraq
by SusanHu
Fri Jun 3rd, 2005 at 07:32:47 PDT

Front-paged at BoomanTribune.com.
Larry Johnson, a counterterrorism expert and former CIA/State Dept. analyst frequently seen on cable news, spares no punches this morning:

President Bush and Vice President Cheney need to get a grip on reality. The happy talk about the "fading" insurgency in Iraq ignores some harsh realities that bode ill for the future of U.S. interests in the Middle East. The truth is simple--we are fighting an insurgency in the midst of a civil war.

How's that for straight talk?

As the Columbia Journalism Review pointed out yesterday, the lack of a grip on reality extends to the press which is reporting the "civil war" angle as if it were something new. CJR calls it "trend-heavy groupthink."

There's more, much more, from Larry Johnson today:

SEE LINK ABOVE

(On Edit: Put one of my post comments into the body of the OP.)

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. Aaaaah, all this reality-based reporting

is like a cool shower on a hot day. Dare we hope??

[Hissyspit]

2. Nice analogy. Although it is cold and drizzly here in NC today...

Civil War w/Occupation. That's what I've been saying for quite a while.

[Flying Dream Blues]

4. We've had some scorchers here in TX already, soo...n/t

[Teaser]

3. Read that.

It's sobering, really. We ain't even fighting the right *kind* of war now. We're trying to fight a counterinsurgency in the middle of a burgeoning civil war.

[Hissyspit]

5. "With Occupation" don't forget.

[G_j]

7. US military to build four giant new bases in Iraq

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5199524-103681,00.html

US military to build four giant new bases in Iraq

Michael Howard in Baghdad
Monday May 23, 2005

Guardian

US military commanders are planning to pull back their troops from Iraq's towns and cities and redeploy them in four giant bases in a strategy they say is a prelude to eventual withdrawal.

The plan, details of which emerged at the weekend, also foresees a transfer to Iraqi command of more than 100 bases that have been occupied by US-led multinational forces since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

However, the decision to in vest in the bases, which will require the construction of more permanent structures such as blast-proof barracks and offices, is seen by some as a sign that the US expects to keep a permanent presence in Iraq.

Politicians opposed to a long-term US presence on Iraqi soil questioned the plan.

"They appear to settling in a for the long run, and that will only give fuel for the terrorists," said a spokesman for the mainstream Sunni Iraqi Islamic party.

..more..

[Hissyspit]

6. Newsweek LTTE this week pointed out that George Washington

developed a method of keeping a counter insurgency army going until the occupiers were worn out. The North Vietnamese used this strategy and now it is being used against us in Iraq.

[gordianot]

8. Of course he is a "former" analyst.

Can't have too much "intelligence" or honesty in the CIA.

[underpants]

9. Can't find a link but ABC WNT last night said-Iraqi car bombings...

are on a level NEVER seen in Israel or Chechneya according to a Pentagon official.

[Straight Shooter]

10. IIRC, Johnson was vehemently against the War on Iraq from the beginning.

His name definitely rings a bell. Of course, he was ignored in the happy happy happy rush to war, where our soldiers would receive flowers and hugs and there would be such a happy ending, and george w. bush would go down in history as the greatest promoter of freedom freedom freedom in the whole wide world, ever.

*barf*

[al bupp]

11. trend-heavy groupthink

Now that's a catchy phrase, and also a pretty good name for a rock band.

Thanks for the link, Mr. Spit