General Peter Pace Slaps Rummy Again

General Peter Pace Slaps Rummy Again

The United States does not have proof that Iran's
government is responsible for the presence of Iranian weapons and military
personnel in Iraq, the top U.S. military officer said on Tuesday.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also said the United
States may slightly increase its troops in Iraq from the current 133,000 to
provide more security for an upcoming Shi'ite pilgrimage amid worry about
further sectarian violence.

President George W. Bush said on Monday components
from Iran were being used in powerful roadside bombs used in Iraq, and Rumsfeld
said last week that Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel had been inside
Iraq to stir up trouble.

Asked whether the United States has proof that
Iran's government was behind these developments, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace,
chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon briefing,
“I do not, sir.”

U.S.
general says no proof Iran behind Iraq arms

The last time the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs contradicted Rummy
it was on Abu Ghraib. Rummy saying one thing about torture, with Pace interrupting
saying his soldiers should stop it if they see it.

I heard about the above development at the DoD yesterday. General
Pace is obviously an honorable, distinguished man, which is why his appearance
on “Meet the Press” was so thoroughly and utterly depressing. Coming
on the heels of John F. Burns' assessment, Pace's point of view was nothing
short of propaganda.

That said, yesterday Pace stood up again in public and contradicted
Secretary Rumsfeld on a matter that is anything but small. He stated emphatically
that he has no proof Iran is involved with providing the I.E.D.'s to the Iraqi
insurgents. Talk about screwing up the story line.

Iran is the next boogeyman down the Bush Co.'s road, regardless
of all the others we have around us right now. It's preposterous and seriously
dangerous for Donald Rumsfeld to make outlandish statements with no proof to
back them up. It's even more embarrassing when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
contradicts you in public.

The military has been used and reused by President Bush and the
rubber stamp Republicans who control Congress have allowed it to happen at every
turn. I've spent the last year-plus writing about all the ways Republicans talk
about supporting the troops, but whose actions are quite contrary to the rhetoric.
(See divorce
rate and broken families, here,
here, PTSD,
the back-door
draft, veterans
getting screwed on health care, and so many others I can't begin to link
them all. And let's never forget about Pat
Tillman, not to mention using
our troops as political props!)

Now, yet again, we are likely to “slightly increase”
troops because the the Shiite pilgrimage, they say, while AC-130
gunships are already in Iraq, as Bush and the Republicans prepare to bug
out of Iraq. They've lost the war, so why not, right?

Now it's on to blaming Iran for mischief they cannot prove they
caused. It's the Rummy we know where the WMD are – they're around Trikrit
crap all over again. It's the Deadeye Dick Iran bluster without the bullets.
It's saber rattling, with the real military putting the breaks on the b.s. stories
that have no validity.

Republicans have already lost one Middle Eastern country that's descending into abject chaos. We must stop them before they pivot and take Deadeye
type aim at another.