Fox's Goler left out Cheney aspect of Sheehan's explanation for declining "war czar" position
On the April 12 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, Fox News White House correspondent Wendell Goler reported that "two retired generals have turned down" the position of war czar and that one had "sa[id] he didn't need the ulcer he would be likely to develop." But that was a small part of what retired Maj. Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan reportedly said. Unmentioned in Goler's report was the statement by Sheehan that he refused the job because he would have spent much of his time unsuccessfully fighting Vice President Dick Cheney and his allies who, according to Sheehan, "don't know where the hell they're going" on Iraq.
Goler also reported that while congressional Democrats and President Bush "debate" the Iraq war supplemental funding bill, "the Pentagon's feeling the pinch." However, a March 28 Congressional Research Service (CRS) memo has stated that adequate funds are available to the Army for operations and maintenance in Iraq and Afghanistan through most of July 2007.
As Media Matters for America has noted, an April 11 Washington Post article reported that the White House "wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies." The Post article quoted Sheehan, one of those who reportedly turned down the "war czar" position, as saying that he "never agreed on the basis of the [Iraq] war" and asserting that those currently in charge of the conflict -- people with what Sheehan reportedly called the "Cheney view" that "we're going to win" and that "al-Qaeda's there" -- "don't know where the hell they're going." The article further reported, "Sheehan said he believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq. 'So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, "No, thanks." ' "
After Goler asserted that "the Pentagon's feeling the pinch," he quoted deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino, who stated, "Every day that we don't get the money is one that, as Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates and General [Peter] Pace [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] have said, creates problems, in terms of the training. And so, by piecemeal, you see some troops have been there for 16 months and that's what we're trying to avoid." But, as Media Matters has noted, the assertion that the Pentagon is "feeling the pinch" because the supplemental funding bill has not been passed conflicts with a March 28 memo by the nonpartisan CRS. The memo stated that the Army has adequate funds available from the previous year's defense appropriations bill to "finance the O&M [operations and maintenance] of both its baseline and war program ... through most of July 2007."
From the April 12 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
GOLER: But what the president's been telling Democrats is that they can't override the veto he's promised. And while the two sides debate, the Pentagon's feeling the pinch.
PERINO: Every day that we don't get the money is one that, as Secretary Gates and General Pace have said, creates problems, in terms of the training. And so, by piecemeal, you see some troops have been there for 16 months and that's what we're trying to avoid.
GOLER: Still, some freshman Democratic lawmakers feel they were sent to Washington to end the war, and they say they'll continue to push for a deadline.
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): It is clearly not in our national interests to continue this war. That is why we are not going to give up to convince this president, as we pick off one Republican at a time in the House and Senate, to convince this president to redeploy our troops out of Iraq.
GOLER: Meanwhile, White House officials privately briefed reporters on the war czar position they're trying to fill, someone who can deal daily with the U.S. ambassador and the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to make sure they are getting what they need, and who can lean on the president's cabinet secretaries if that's not happening.
At least two retired generals have turned down the job, one saying he didn't need the ulcer he'd be likely to develop.
[end video clip]
GOLER: An administration official says with a new commander of U.S. forces implementing a new war strategy in Iraq and a new ambassador to the country, it is a good time to create this new war czar position. The White House would like to fill the job as quickly as possible. But so far officials here haven't found a single candidate they want the president to talk to.
Becoming the new WAR CZAR is the same as being the fiddle tuner for Nero.
Why not ask Ollie North? I gotta laugh at that myslef.
MYSLEF...I was dyslexic as a kid but also cross-eyed so it evened out.
I am absolutely awestruck every.
single.
time I see North on TV.
Like Ann Coulter, in Fox News bizarro-world he is an "expert" on everything and nothing.
God bless America, indeed. It's the only place on the planet where traitors like North, felons like G. Gordon Liddy, and reptiles like OJ can get on TV, get on the radio, and publish a book. Even after their crimes.
Hell, we've got a bona fide draft-dodger for a President! And Vice-President too!
And yet, somehow, the same cro-mags who listen intently to the Ollie's and G. Gordon's of the world are also 100% against allowing the average parolee to re-earn his right to vote.
Liddy gets a radio show. But Joe Shmoe from Chicago doesn't even get to re-enter society as a regular citizen. Both have "paid their debt to society." You tell me the difference...
Oh yeah? Well, the bottom line is that everyone here knows Liddy would destroy you inside the octagon, and that's just about all the matters! I bet it burns you up inside knowing that he'd make you tap in the cage!
By the way, I'd love to see Drudge and Dave settle their differences in a three round UFC war! This time it's a date...with death! Or minor injuries, whatever.
there is no reality except that which is established by cheney and the "decider". if any general were to tell them other than what they want to hear, that general would be ignored at best, driven from his post and vilified at worst. it's an established pattern. this administration continues to attempt to put a square peg in a round hole.
sen. jim webb of virginia has accused mccain of "impugning the patriotism" of those who disagree on the war and "hiding behind the troops". sounds about right to me. mccain is now like lieberman. someone i once had a little respect for, but that has turned himself into a right wing war shill.
Even leaving out the omission of "the Cheney factor", this report seems deficient, in that it suppresses the reality that this "Czar" is purely a fall-guy fiction, someone designated to take the fall in the public eye, when even the lying Corporate Media can no longer hide the failure in Iraq, in Afghanistan, hell, even (recruiting) in the US.
Bungle may not be able to salvage his legacy - but he isn't willing to go down alone, nor without one more deceit: "you'll never take me alive, copper (bang, bang)".
War Czar? Who came up with that term? Is it a new form of anti-communism? If I recall, the last Czar lost against Germany, while the communists were able to win the rematch. Of course, by that time Russia was small enough that invading it actually meant going where it gets cold in the winter.
Lame title, wither way.
The real story is that Sheehan wanted the job but only if they called him the war poobah instead of war czar.
Or as they say in Japan, War Super Lucky Smile Ninja.
I'd apply for that one, deeznuts.
Seriously, as weird as the past few years have been, trying to figure out who is left in that ever-shrinking group of Bush disciples, I'm glad I can have a few laughs in the middle of this embarrassing period in our nation's history.
Just try to put your brain into this situation; You fully support a war, and feel confident that victory is not only important, but absolutely critical. (I believe one Republitard poster recently phrased it as "defeat is unacceptable!")
You still believe a president and administration who have been repeatedly exposed as liars and/or incompetent, as they explain to you that this is a war for the free world.
Then, the job of running this war, with its promise of glory and historical immortality is offered ,like half a stale sandwich, to various people who respond not with "Oh, thank you for this great and magnificent opportunity to save the civilized world", but with variations of "eh, no thanks" and " F. U., chimpy".
That 30% or whatever it is now that is still buying these clowns' act-are these like the people who drive in the wrong direction over those spiked driveways with the "severe tire damage" signs ?
cindy sheehan ???;)
I speculate generals are turning this down because they realize the actual title of this position is "Scapegoat in Chief".
Ever heard the term "whipping boy"? It was a real position, back in the days of ROYALTY. Seems it was illegal to lay a hand on any "PRINCE IN WAITING", because the royal blood and divine selection placed the little tyke above the judgments of mere MAN.
So, when a ROYAL child did something deserving of punishment (kids will be kids, after all), then the prince's guardians would call in the "whipping boy" to take the lashes meant for the prince's infraction.
Of course, we all know the long history of wealthy people HIRING poor men to go off to war in their place.
So, this "WAR CZAR" is royal Bush's attempt to install a WHIPPING BOY to take the punishment due HIS, BUSH's infractions, mistakes, errors in judgment, and disasterous plans. Bush will reman THE DECIDER, and the fallout from his bloody errors would fall to the War Czar. That's the plan, and they can't find anyone with room temperature IQ to take the suicide mission.
Across America, terrible managers are always trying to fill their underling positions with people who have NO POWER and ALL the responsibility. Someone to blame.
THIS ... is a perfect indication of Bush's "leadership style". He wants to be absolute ruler, without ANY accountability. Time to impeach (or is that, "DE-THRONE"?).
TEX,I absolutely agree with the first two(2) paragraphs. Takes me back to my childhood.
Tex,
"Ever heard the term "whipping boy"? It was a real position, back in the days of ROYALTY. Seems it was illegal to lay a hand on any "PRINCE IN WAITING", because the royal blood and divine selection placed the little tyke above the judgments of mere MAN."
That was the eventual logic of the use of a whipping boy...but the GENESIS of the practice was the very real possibility of the Prince having hemophilia and dying as a result of being whipped.
Same as the fairytale of the Princess and the Pea. Women cannot get hemophilia, but they carry the gene and can pass it to their sons. The theory of the Princess and the Pea syndrom is that even though the Princess couldn't actually have hemophilia she could, by carrying the gene, be very easily bruised, hence her susceptibilty to even the smallest lump in her mattress.
One further comment:
Bush continues to hide behind "the commanders on the ground" to support HIS plans, and to disparage Congress as thinking THEIR judgment is better than those commanders.
This is the lamest and most cowardly of all tactics, in attempting to again "get his way" in the wartime funding. He gives the orders, demands compliance, and fires any who dare question his directives. THEN, when promoting his plans, he claims all the commanders agree with HIM. Well, that old tactic no longer works, as it become crystal clear that our military commanders are as opposed to the decisions Bush has made as the rest of America.
To cite the "commanders on the ground" as in FULL AGREEMENT with Bush's plans is, in fact, a BIG LIE. Luckily, America sees through it.
Hey, we know how well the Drug czar worked out.