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04/15/2004 Archived Entry: "Weaselly bastard."
Weaselly bastard.
Rumsfeld couldn't give a straight answer if his life depended on it.
Expressing surprise at the growing U.S. military death toll in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday he had extended the promised year-long tours of 20,000 American troops there including 6,000 Reserve and National Guard members.Rumsfeld stopped short of saying the Pentagon failed to put enough forces into Iraq when it invaded a year ago, but conceded he did not expect that dozens of U.S. troops would die in fighting with Sunnis and Shi'ites in the past week alone.
"I certainly would not have estimated that we would have had the individuals lost that we have had lost in the last week," he told a press conference, responding to questions on the deaths of at least 93 U.S. troops since March 31.
Translation: We had no idea that shutting down a newspaper owned by a Muslim cleric and issuing an arrest warrant for him, then sending 1,200 Marines into a city of 300,000 would end up getting a lot of them killed.
Like President Bush in a news conference earlier this week, Rumsfeld stopped far short of bowing to charges from critics that Washington had simply not anticipated the lawlessness and opposition that a U.S.-led coalition is now be battling in Iraq."I would rather answer it my way," a grim-faced Rumsfeld retorted at one point after being pressed repeatedly on the issue.
"What I said, I thought, reasonably clearly was that if, a year ago, you had asked me to describe where you would be on April 15, 2004, in Iraq ... I would not have described it precisely the way we are now," he added.
Translation: A year ago, I was predicting that most of our forces would be out of Iraq within 90 days, and I also said that a force of about 35,000 soldiers would be enough to control Iraq. I even fired the general who actually had the numbers right.
More interesting stuff from the article:
"Essentially, we've approved the extension of roughly 20,000 forces - people who are currently in the theater - of which roughly a quarter are likely to be Guard and Reserve personnel," Rumsfeld said.He said the troops -- including 11,000 from the U.S. 1st Armored Division based in Germany, 3,200 from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment based in Fort Polk, Louisiana and another 6,000 Guard and Reserve members from 20 states -- would remain in Iraq for 90 days instead of ending their one-year tours this month.
The troops could be deployed for up to 30 days beyond the 90 days as they are rotated home, the secretary said.
Translation: Those who are being extended will actually be there an extra four months instead of three, but that would piss them off even worse than they are now.
Rumsfeld stressed that the move to keep some forces in Iraq beyond their normal tour did not mean "a freeze" on the rotation of tens of thousands of other U.S. troops home in the coming weeks.But he refused to flatly promise that the tours of the remaining troops would be limited to an extra 90 or 120 days beyond a year.
"Needless to say, we regret having to extend those individuals," he told reporters. "But the country is at war. And we need to do what is necessary to succeed."
Translation: We fucked up, and nobody is allowed to leave. But actually saying that would probably piss them off to the point where neither they nor their families would vote for Bush.
Replies: 6 people speak up
Okay, I'll say something like so:
I'd like you to consider reading the text for a "state of the union" address that I believe is imperative for this country of ours. To get to it, all you need do is click on the below enclosed U.R.L
http://www.bcvoice.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=205
By the way, the proprietors of the www.BCVoice.com website have provided a couple ways for you to leave your comments.
Posted by A Alexander Stella @ 04/15/2004 07:34 PM NY
Excellent translations...you must be fluent in weasel...wait, that doesn't sound right...I was trying to compliment you!
How about this? Great blog! Your cleverness continues! Thanks!
Posted by LML @ 04/16/2004 01:08 AM NY
ha ha
Outstanding post, editor. Where did you pick up your ear for languages?
These weasels are un-fucking-believable. Figuratively and literally, of course.
Posted by Daddy-O @ 04/16/2004 01:56 AM NY
Surprise? I could have told you this was going to happen before the war started.
What surprised me was that it didn't happen sooner.
As for the troop deployment, does Catch 22 ring any bells for anyone?
Posted by Demeur @ 04/16/2004 05:49 AM NY
Gen. Zinni apparently told everyone who would listen that Iraq would turn into a quagmire. And now that he's no longer one of their boys and is talking out of school, they are calling him a coward.
And if you haven't read the letters section on eStripes, you really should. The families are furious at everyone connected with BushCo.
Typical.
Posted by Charles2 @ 04/16/2004 03:12 PM NY
Fire his fucking ass, fire his fucking ass, fire his fucking ass!
Rummy needs to be deep-sixed regardless of outcome, he is incompetent.
Posted by Stentor @ 04/16/2004 03:35 PM NY
