Yep. Maybe they can get together for another Rose Garden beer party (with Bud Lime).

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

As noted previously, you aren't interested in any facts about the subject. You are only interested in arguing. I won't be wasting any more time on you. Enjoy your Bush derangement.

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

You brought up Clinton. What did you expect? As for facts, you have yet to present any.
I'm still waiting for Republicans to demand taxes be increased to pay for the wars started by Bush. Until we do start paying for them, anyone thinking the wars are a benefit to this country is a welfare recipient.

this is all silly drama. regardless of who's in charge (president, general etc.) that war is "unwinnable". any student of history (and even a dummy like me) knows that the russians and the british couldn't prevail there. after nine years, it's time to get out. this whole thing is like arguing about westmoreland in the 60's.

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Last big hoorah like this I remember over comments by a flag rank officer was when Shalikasveli (apologies for spelling), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs appointed by Clinton, was testifying in front of a Congressional committee about our then-pending plans to invade Iraq. He was asked how many troops it would take to properly occupy and control Iraq. Having had direct experience in this, being involved in the peace keeping operations in the Balkans, he gave a professional opinion, answering a direct question from a superior civilian official (a member of Congress) under oath, that it would take "several hundred thousand troops" to properly occupy and control a coountry of that size and population.

Donald Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz damn near had a cow. They all but said the man was dead wrong in front of the same committee, and publicly excoriated him. Rumsfeld told him well ahead of the end of his term as chairman that he would be replaced - a breach of etiquette and a slap in the face that has rarely occurred.

Of course, Rumsfeld was an utter ass to begin with. I've heard first person from an old grade school acquaintance who was stationed in the Pentagon when Rummy first took over as SecDef, that on at least one occasion when he was in a meeting with senior officers that Rummy just told them to shut up and do as they were told, the only reason they were wearing a uniform was because they were too stupid or too lazy to hold a job in the real world, that he would do all the planning.

After 8 years of this kind of treatment from Bush Jr/Cheney/Rumsfeld/etc, little wonder that many senior officers would be tempted to mouth off about the way things are being run - especially when the new admin looks to be little better or even worse than the last. There has to be a point, after X number of years and tours of duty, watching the men under your command and fellow officers go home in body bags, stuck in a no-win situation due to political considerations, that something inside gives way and you have to vent your frustrations just to stay sane.

Starting to sound like another little war we had some 40-odd years ago.

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Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

precisely

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

I agree, Article 92 would fit here, or not, depending on who is administering it. In Gen Stan's place, I am sure that he is toast. I was just trying to illustrate to JR, that the oath was not what he violated. He did seem to think he was invincible. I have friends still in who have been in units or commanded under him and say he is dynamic and brash, which is actually what we need in a combat warrior commander. The "zero error" 90's, during the Clinton drawdown years produced a huge number of officers (so-called leaders) who did not much more than mitigate risk to cover their ass in case something went south. We may regret losing Gen Stan, but as De Gaulle said, "the graveyards are full of indespensible men".

they were trivial, locker room remarks, reamarks that no one should have heard outside the circuit of professional warriors who made them. Tell me this: do you think congressional staffers ever make of fthe cuff denigrating remarks about the governance? The difference is that they don't have imbeds with them to scurry off and report them.

It is obvious from your remarks that you have never been in the military, especially at a rank where command decisions are made.

thank whatever any of you believe in that we still have some general officers that don't sound like they are in or could have come from a board room in corporate world. The job of war fighting requires a different personality than that, if it is to be done effectively. part of the problem we have in the military now days is the cover your ass syndrome...

This is VERY true. I spend as much time (or more) doing CBTs (computer based training) covering sexual harassment, human trafficking, equal opportunity, hazmat, etc... as I do doing my actual job. Dumb CYA stuff. I sometimes feel LESS proficient at my job now than I did 10 years ago when I left tech school.

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

I agree, could you picture Patton or for that matter Schwarzkopf in a board meeting.

When your in control of the largest weapon the world has known with lives hanging in the balance of your actions , you want a different make of person than one who is good at balancing red and black ink.

on another note Schwarzkopf remarked in the first gulf war that reporters where his best weapon.

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Experience : what you receive 3 seconds after you really needed it !!



86 300SDL 387,000? Motor committed suicide
81 300SD 214,000 "new" 132,000 motor
83 300SD 212,000 parts car
83 300SD 147,000

91 F700 5.9 cummins 5spd eaton 298,000
66 AMC rambler American 2dr auto 108,000
95 Chevy 3/4 ton auto 160,000
03 Toyota 4runner 180,000 wifes

Yeah, I think it's unwinnable given the rules of engagement US soldiers are forced to follow - you can't fight with one arm tied behind your back and hope to win there.... you've got to hit them hard everytime their turbans pop out of the ground. I'd gather a bunch of their sorry asses and march them down every highway and freeway in front of our troops clearing IEDs with their feet.

The rules of engagement there give the enemy an unfair advantage in the war - since they don't follow any rules except shoot to kill. Maybe that's why the General was pissed off and just lost it... he probly got tired of being a puppet in the Washington game.

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Indeed. Stormin' Norman knew how to use reporters, instead of letting the reporters use him - ie, feed misleading info to the enemy 24/7 via CNN.

There was a show on the Military Channel the other night about classic deception operations. The two studied were for Operation Overlord in 1944, and Operation Desert Storm. Old Norm did his homework well.

I remember when we invaded Iraq. They interviewed Schwarzkopf and Glossom (AF general in charge of the Desert Storm air campaign), about Rumsfeld's little "shock and awe" bombing action the first night of the war - essentially doing nothing more than expending tons of bombs and cruise missles to blow up Saddam's palaces, in an attempt to put the fear of god into the Iraqis. Glossom commented that it was BS - "the best way to shock and awe an enemy is blow up half his #$%# army the first night of the war". Norm wasn't too impressed either. And after that, they were noticeably absent from public view - guess they got a phone call from Rummy telling them to STFU if they wanted to keep their retirement pensions.

I remember the day they announced that Rumsfeld was out as SecDef. I scared the hell out of my elderly father. I was standing behind the couch he was sitting on, listening to the news that Rummy was out. I jumped about a foot in the air, clapped my hands, and yelled "Thank God that son of a b**** is gone!".

__________________
Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

Now... Now this is a sensitive war talk like that could lose hearts and minds !!

I never understood this B.S. we suffer the largest loss of Americans since Pearl harbor and D day and nine years later were rebuilding there infrastructure and trying to win there hearts .
Of course it unwinable our troops are targets due to as you said the rules of engagement . Basically Using Marines as crossing guards WTF !!

__________________


Experience : what you receive 3 seconds after you really needed it !!



86 300SDL 387,000? Motor committed suicide
81 300SD 214,000 "new" 132,000 motor
83 300SD 212,000 parts car
83 300SD 147,000

91 F700 5.9 cummins 5spd eaton 298,000
66 AMC rambler American 2dr auto 108,000
95 Chevy 3/4 ton auto 160,000
03 Toyota 4runner 180,000 wifes