During graduation ceremonies at West Point, villainous cur, Dick Cheney croaked a speech at the future leaders of America's Army. Not content to honour the dedication, sacrifice and achievement of these young officers, he took the opportunity to sow the seeds of dishonour, evil and ignorance among them. As Vice President of the United States, it behooves Cheney to at least pay lip service to the values that the instructors have worked so hard to instill. He even lists the seven core values of the Army officer, "loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage". He then goes on to take a shit on those values by questioning the Geneva Conventions.
"As Army officers on duty in the war on terror, you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for. Capture one of these killers, and he'll be quick to demand the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States. Yet when they wage attacks or take captives, their delicate sensibilities seem to fall away. These are men who glorify murder and suicide. Their cruelty is not rebuked by human suffering, only fed by it. They have given themselves to an ideology that rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society. The terrorists are defined entirely by their hatreds, and they hate nothing more than the country you have volunteered to defend."
How fucking dare he? What values remain in western civilization are defended at great cost by these young men and women. Their lives and bodies will be placed on the line and imperiled by his administration's foolhardy escapades. This was not a graduating class of Waffen SS officers. To even suggest that these officers go into combat with a question as to the validity and necessity of the Geneva Conventions is a disavowal of all that America purports to stand for. In these remarks, Cheney suborns treason, encouraging a gross lack of faith in lawful treaties signed by the sovereign government of the United States of America.
Not content to undermine the values and honour of soldier and state, he goes on to lie through his vulgar teeth.
"The terrorists know what they want and they will stop at nothing to get it. By force and intimidation, they seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to their ideology. Their ultimate goal is to establish a totalitarian empire, a caliphate, with Baghdad as its capital. They view the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again. And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization."
They have chosen? Perhaps if Cheney and his ideological bedmates hadn't rolled out the blood drenched welcome matt of illegal war and pre-emptive murder. The good men and women of West Point and those under their command would not be destined for the killing fields of Iraq. A land that posed no threat to America. A land that, for all of its faults, denied and opposed the goals of Bin Laden and al Qaeda. If there is a regime that seeks world domination and adherence to a totalitarian goal, it is that of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. The criminal enterprise currently occupying the White House have abandoned efforts to capture the perpetrators of 9/11. They have shut down the CIA's unit dedicated to capturing Osama Bin Laden. They have created the hell storm that has befallen the innocent population of Iraq, cost more than 3,000 American service men and women their lives and plundered the treasure of America for a war based on lies.
"In Iraq today, the al Qaeda network that struck America is one of the elements trying to destroy a democratic government. They are surging their capabilities, attacking Iraqi and American forces, and killing innocent civilians. America is fighting this enemy in Iraq because that is where they have gathered. We are there because, after 9/11, we decided to deny terrorists any safe haven. We are there because, having removed Saddam Hussein, we promised not to allow another dictator to rise in his place."
In Iraq today, Cheney's spiteful ignorance has erupted into a sectarian civil war. The al Qaeda network that was behind the attacks of 9/11 continues to work toward their goals from the frontiers of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It continues to be funded by Saudi interests and has only grown in strength and influence through the imperial arrogance and mindless actions of Cheney and Bush and their fellows. Iraq is not where the enemy has gathered, Iraq is where the enemies of America are being created and converted, not by the charisma of Bin Laden, but by the actions, policies and madness sown by America's leaders.
"Last night, President Bush signed into law the war supplemental that we worked hard to achieve. As we look to the future, I want to say this to the graduates, and to all the men and women of the Corps, and to the families gathered in this stadium today: Whatever lies ahead, the United States Army will have all the equipment, supplies, manpower, training, and support essential to victory. I give you this assurance on behalf of the President. You soldier for him, and he will soldier for you."
All of the equipment, except up-armoured vehicles, body armour, clean food and water and a sufficiency of rest, re-equipment and retraining between deployments. Mr. Cheney, your assurances and those of the petulant fool in chief are worth less than the paper you wipe with. These young men and women have undertaken the path of duty and honour. That a man like Dick Cheney, who made every effort to avoid service and who lives without honour, lies to their faces is a stinking shame. That he uses the opportunity to undermine their hard won honour, by bringing the Geneva Conventions under question, is a fucking crime. These young officers deserve better.
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11 comments:
And he shot his friend in the face, lets not forget that...
"This was not a graduating class of Waffen SS officers. To even suggest that these officers go into combat with a question as to the validity and necessity of the Geneva Conventions is a disavowal of all that America purports to stand for."
Dude, you need to re-read the Cheney quote you posted. If you do so, and still believe the crap you wrote above, you are in serious need of remedial reading comprehension classes.
dude, given that the bush/cheney team has already made it a policy to abrogate the rules of the geneva conventions, established secret prisons, employed extreme renditions, engaged in torture, abandoned habeas corpus and made illegal, agressive war based on lies, i think what i've written can stand as is. cheney doesn't explicitly instruct the grads to ignore the conventions, but the implicit meaning is still pretty clear. you are welcome to counter my arguments by, you know, making a counter argument. go ahead, prove me wrong and i'll recant.
Dude, you need to re-read the Cheney quote you posted. If you do so, and still believe the crap you wrote above, you are in serious need of remedial reading comprehension classes.
No, what you need to do is drop the uppity ignorance and present a better argument (or an actual argument, come to think of it) that someone has misinterpreted something, rather than simply suggest that someone else is not buying the incoherence you obviously have.
Have you got that, or do I need to get out the finger-puppets?
"As Army officers on duty in the war on terror, you will now face enemies who oppose and despise everything you know to be right, every notion of upright conduct and character, and every belief you consider worth fighting for and living for. Capture one of these killers, and he'll be quick to demand the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States. Yet when they wage attacks or take captives, their delicate sensibilities seem to fall away. These are men who glorify murder and suicide. Their cruelty is not rebuked by human suffering, only fed by it. They have given themselves to an ideology that rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society. The terrorists are defined entirely by their hatreds, and they hate nothing more than the country you have volunteered to defend."
This is the Cheney quote you supplied, the one I am referring to in my comment. You follow it with.."How fucking dare he? What values remain in western civilization are defended at great cost by these young men and women. Their lives and bodies will be placed on the line and imperiled by his administration's foolhardy escapades. This was not a graduating class of Waffen SS officers. To even suggest that these officers go into combat with a question as to the validity and necessity of the Geneva Conventions is a disavowal of all that America purports to stand for. In these remarks, Cheney suborns treason, encouraging a gross lack of faith in lawful treaties signed by the sovereign government of the United States of America.".
Where does Cheney suggest that officers of the U.S. Army should doubt the validity of the Geneva Convention? He is quite plainly speaking of the terrorists' views on prisoners' rights. Yet somehow you accuse him of suborning treason?
As I said before, basic reading comprehension will go a long way toward clearing up your problem....although ti-boy's fondness for finger-puppets may suggest deeper learning disabilities on his part.
He is quite plainly speaking of the terrorists' views on prisoners' rights.
Oh, so I see your argument rests on "Go fuck yourself" Cheney's pronouncement that all America's enemies are "terrorists."
Yeah..well...that includes most of the World by now, I think. Still, if you're comforted by the little fairy tales Cheney tells you, then good on you. I'm sure it's much easier than enlisting, eh?
Bitch and moan all you like, the words say what they say. And what they plainly do not say is anything remotely like PSA claimed. That is all my argument rests on, despite your delusional projections. Read my second post again, ti-boy, and here's a hint: my words are not the ones in bold type.
Have fun with the puppets.
jvzjhnn, in cheney's rhetoric, he at no time stresses that the rights and rules that he claims will be denied american prisoners should or must be upheld by these graduates. he is making blanket charges about all combattants that america faces, labelling them as terrorists. that is simply untrue.
the insurgent forces currently battling in iraq are comprised of a large variety of sectarian, political and, indeed, terrorist forces. i have no doubt in my mind that many of these fighters see attacks on americans as their patriotic duty, no different from the free french fighting the german occupation during ww2.
it is also true that of the americans captured, not all were treated inhumanely. perhaps the most famous example would be jessica lynch. after the fire fight that wounded her and killed her comrades ended, she was transported to a hospital and given the best care they could manage. nobody sawed her head off.
go read new yorker's piece regarding the devolution of attitudes in america at large and at west point in particular, as regards torture and the rule of law in combat. here's a few quotes from that,
"This past November, U.S. Army Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, the dean of the United States Militar Academy at West Point, flew to Southern California to meet with the creative team behind “24.” Finnegan, wh was accompanied by three of the most experienced military and F.B.I. interrogators in the country, arrived on the set a the crew was filming."
"Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors—cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’ ” He continued, “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”
"Finnegan and the others disagreed, pointing out that Bauer remains coolly rational after committing barbarous acts, including the decapitation of a state’s witness with a hacksaw. Joe Navarro, one of the F.B.I.’s top experts in questioning techniques, attended the meeting; he told me, “Only a psychopath can torture and be unaffected. You don’t want people like that in your organization. They are untrustworthy, and tend to have grotesque other problems.”
"The notion that physical coercion in interrogations is unreliable, although widespread among military intelligence officers and F.B.I. agents, has been firmly rejected by the Bush Administration. Last September, President Bush defended the C.I.A.’s use of “an alternative set of procedures.” In order to “save innocent lives,” he said, the agency needed to be able to use “enhanced” measures to extract “vital information” from “dangerous” detainees who were aware of “terrorist plans we could not get anywhere else.”
Where does Cheney tell the grads that while their opponents might resort to barbarism, that America holds to a higher standard? He does not. He implies that the craven enemy might just deserve what it gets. In the wake of Haditha and Abu Grehb, America no longer holds the moral high ground. He doesn't need to be explicit, these are bright young people he was addressing, they are quite capable of reading between the lines.
"... he at no time stresses that the rights and rules that he claims will be denied american prisoners should or must be upheld by these graduates."
You are correct, he does not do so in the piece you quote. It could be because he quite rightly takes such things for granted because "(h)e doesn't need to be explicit, these are bright young people he was addressing...".
Face it, PSA, you are trying too damn hard to strike gold in an empty mine. As earth-shattering as your background material from the New Yorker may be, it can't put words into Cheney's mouth, nor can it alter the clear meaning of those he actually said.
Chin up, though: the Bush Administration has proved itself more than able to shoot itself in the foot. How long until you can re-post this column and actually be right?
Boy, you are gullible.
Oh well...that's why the US got Bush in the first place; as long as what comes out the Bushies' mouths can't technically be proved dishonest or counter-intuitive or un-moored from reality, everything's OK.
"Technically" has nothing to do with it, Ti. PSA was putting words into Cheney's mouth. Please quote to me any phrase, printed by PSA in his post as spoken by Cheney, that you can logically argue is "dishonest or counter-intuitive or un-moored from reality". The fact that you dislike "Bushies" does not alter reality here.
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