I remember when people here called Admiral Fallon a Bush tool.

[MADem]

He's an honorable man. I defended him and got excoriated for it.

He has resigned rather than put up with this bullshit, but he held on as long as he could before they told him, like they told Rick Shinseki, to pound sand.

He's a fucking hero. He was a bulwark between Bush and an Iran War strategy.

[MADem]

1. Who wants to place bets on the DRAFT being rolled out soon?

Just the thing to jump start the flagging economy.....

[countryjake]

3. Or a shock & awe in Iran! n/t

[MADem]

6. I think they really need both. To do it "right" that is.

(Fair warning: If anyone suggests I'm supporting the concept of war with my use of "right" in quotes I will reach through the net and rip their throat out...!!!)

What's happening in the ME is starting to look rather like a shift of the old THREE PILLARS strategy of old...a shift just a tick to the right.

The Old "Three Pillars" were Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. They stood strong against the evil Russkies, topped off by the Turks, who served as Cannon Fodder against those heathen commies.

The New "Three Pillars?" Iraq, IRAN, and Afghanistan--arrayed against a SMALLER Russia up north, AND the unstable Pakistanis above Afghanistan.

Hey, Saudi Arabia is running out of oil. Iraq and Iran still have plenty.

[lpbk2713]

9. It would help BushCo's piss-poor unemployment stats too.

[MADem]

11. Yep. WW2 got us out of The Great Depression. Perhaps WW3 will get us out of The Unacknowledged

Bush Depression.

It's not like there will be any difficulty ginning up those draft boards. That business was retooled a few years ago--they're all set to roll out.

The only challenge would be finding enough locations for boot camps--there aren't enough right now for a large throughput in the existing pipeline. They'll have to reactivate a few dormant bases awaiting the BRAC process.

I don't think with absolute certainty that this will happen, but I wouldn't be shocked...SHOCKED...if it did.

http://www.oceancountypolitics.com/inhouse/Images/Renault,%20Louis%20copy.jpg

[napi21]

2. Admiral Fallon was NOT a yes man! You don't last long in this admin..

when you speak the truth to Shrub!

I'll tell you the next guy I expect to see kicked is Gates! HE's not much of a yes man either!

I'm really scared that Shrub has already planned to attack Iran and because Fallon was the biggest block standing in the way, with him gone, the risk of an attack has just skyrocketed!

[caledesi]

4. I agree! NT

[MADem]

7. Gates is Poppy's pick. He's in it for the rest of the show, I think. NT

[napi21]

12. Maybe, but don't forget Shrub said he listens to a HIGHER Father!

I've listened to several hearings when Gates was testifying, and I was very surprised at his candor...at least sometimes. I have NEVER known ANYONE, in either my professional life or in politics, who was as openly opposed to anyone who disagreed with him as Shrub demonstrates ALL THE TIME! I really don't think it would matter to him if Poppy told or asked him to leave Gates alone. If Shrub sees or hears opposition from him, HE'S GONE!

[MADem]

13. Well, he listened to Poppy when Rummy "HAD" to go. Poppy, and Gates, bailed him out.

Poppy knew Gates from His See Eye Ehh days.

Here's an idea that might be worth revisiting: Little Bush might just be a "Useful Tool" who actually, for a period of time, believed in his own authority, after all.

[tachyon]

5. Shinseki's Eric...maybe you're thinking of Rick Sanchez?

:D

[MADem]

8. I know Rick Shinseki. No one who knows him calls him "Eric." They call him Rick.

The only stupid thing Rick did was that nonsense with the berets. Otherwise, he was a pretty good COS.

[tachyon]

10. Okay, I'm not a personal acquaintance.

...