CSPAN: Jay Garner just made a whole bunch of sense

[LSK]

He just proposed that we need to focus on the Iraqi economy.
-He suggested that we pay Iraqis for bringing in ammunition and materials that can make IEDs.
-He proposed that we make a Roosevelt 30s style WPA system to employ their youth.
-He suggested that we bring over a lot of the Iraqi youth to the US for training in trades and education.
-He suggested that future contractors must use 49% of their work with Iraqi subcontractors.

Had Jay Garner been given full suppport after the invasion, we might not be in the mess we are in. He was planning to keep the Iraqi army intact and to pay them immediately. He also had Iraqi tribal leaders ready for talks less than 2 months after we invaded.

He was ousted by Rummy and then Bremer came in and ordered the de-Baathication of Iraq and disbanding of the Iraqi army.

[C_U_L8R]

1. swords into ploughshares

a concept that has escaped the Bush regime

[SharonAnn]

2. He seems to have always made sense on stabilizing Iraq.

And, it seems so common-sense that you realize that by not doing the things he recommended, they had another goal in mind. That goal may have been "How can we get the most money possible into the pockets of our friends by claiming that it's for rebuilding and stabilizing Iraq?"

They did the same thing with Katrina and the Prescription Drug Program. If one was going to solve either of those problems, the approach would've been quite different. However, if the purpose was to line the pockets of your friends then the approaches taken make sense.

[LSK]

3. you got that right, its always been about money for contractors

One has to wonder what the Baker Group will do because Baker is in deep with the Carlyse Group.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. he made too much sense for Rummie and company.

the longer this quagmire continued, the longer war powers, patriot act, domestic surveillance, and profiteering continued.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Check Out The Nightline Program On The Subject

They interview Garner and show describe how he was "hired" in the final stages of the invasion plans and how he had almost no staff and little cooperation from the DOD and the White House in setting up a post war plan that would have prevented the looting and restore critical services. Instead, he was shoved aside for Bremmer who got a "medal of freedom" for creating the hell and bedlam that is Iraq today.

BTW...I hear you worked on the Duckworth campaign. So did I. Cheers and thanks for your work!

:hi:

[LSK]

6. Garner was covered in State of Denial

Which I am about halfway through.

Yes I worked on the Duckworth campaign for the last 2 weeks of the campaign almost everyday. We lost the battle but won the war. :hi:

[KharmaTrain]

8. Next Time...The Groundwork Has Been Laid

The Duckworth campaign had much of the feel of the Melissa Bean campaign in '02. We came up short that time, but it only made us more determined to get over the hump the next time. Hopefully all the near misses we had last week will be lessons learned that provide the base for a victory in '08.

Garner is truly one of the most tragic characters in this ugly war. My hopes are one day that Bremer is hauled before the Hague and he is held accountable for his negligence and arrogance.

[LSK]

10. I think Tammy wins if it wasnt for the robo-calls

While canvassing I heard many complaints about them - people thought it was us calling them nonstop.

[KharmaTrain]

13. I Saw The Same Thing...

I commented elsewhere around here that on the final weekend of the campaign, the office I was working out of was getting a ton of complaining calls...keeping people from arranging rides and doing other GOTV activities. I also heard many who were turned off by the non-stop barage of TV ads from both sides.

[NNN0LHI]

7. Fucking Garner wasted too much time having photo-ops near mass graves

The asshole must have done dozens of them until the media said something that since the Iraq/Iran war the whole place is one big mass grave and he gave it up.

Now he has all the answerers?

Fuck that.

How about we get out of these peoples country and quit stealing their oil?

Lets see how that works for a while.

Don

[LSK]

9. before or after Bremer came in???

Because he was pretty much SHUT DOWN weeks after he got there.

[NNN0LHI]

11. The whole time he was there. He was obsessed with them

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=HPIA,HPIA:2006-34,HPIA:en&q=Jay+Garner%2bmass+grave

Results 1 - 10 of about 373,000 for Jay Garner+mass grave. (0.30 seconds)

HRW Letter to Gen. Jay Garner on Human Rights Priorities During ...Jay Garner on Human Rights Priorities During Iraqi Reconstruction ... Further, the coalition should ensure that any mass grave sites are properly marked and ...
www.hrw.org/press/2003/04/iraq42403ltr.htm - 34k - Cached - Similar pages


Iraq: Garner Must Address Human Rights (Human Rights Watch, 24-4-2003)(New York, April 24, 2003) Retired U.S. general Jay Garner should invite ... such as mass grave sites and official documentation, which might serve as ...
www.hrw.org/press/2003/04/iraq042403.htm - 14k - Cached - Similar pages


CNN.com - Iraqis uncover thousands in mass graves - May. 14, 2003•McKiernan: Mass grave sites being discovered in Iraq are high on the U.S. ... Jay Garner was being replaced because the reconstruction effort in Iraq was ...
www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/05/14/sprj.irq.main/ - 51k - Cached - Similar pages


DoD News: Secretary Rumsfeld Media Availability with Jay GarnerRumsfeld: As you may have noticed, Jay Garner -- General Jay Garner is in ... I think you'll find that they -- they're seeing the mass graves that exist in ...
www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2003/tr20030618-secdef0282.html - 72k - Cached - Similar pages


ZNet |Iraq | Mass GravesSenior US sources at Jay Garner's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance ... 15) Mr Blair invokes the mass graves to justify his bloody war, ...
www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=3624 - 17k - Cached - Similar pages


FOXNews.com - Mass Graves From 1991 Uprising Uncovered - U.S. & ...Mass Graves From 1991 Uprising Uncovered, ... Bullet casings also were found near the graves. ... Jay M. Garner, Maj. Gen. W. Bruce Moore, Gen. ...
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,85932,00.html - 64k - Cached - Similar pages


FOXNews.com - 11000 Feared Buried in Mass Grave in Iraq - U.S. ...The mass grave in this village outside Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, is the largest found in Iraq ... Jay M. Garner, Maj. Gen. W. Bruce Moore, Gen. ...
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,86837,00.html - 69k - Cached - Similar pages


Briefing 44: MASS GRAVESSenior US sources at Jay Garner’s Office of Reconstruction and ... Hussein Rabia was shot and dumped in a mass grave outside Najaf in March 1991, ...
www.j-n-v.org/AW_briefings/ARROW_briefing044.htm - 30k - Cached - Similar pages


Iraq Release 5/14/03In an April 25th letter to General Jay Garner, PHR said that “if the search for ... Assign coalition forces to protect major mass grave sites by stationing ...
www.phrusa.org/research/iraq/release_051403.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages


Iraq Bulletin #6Lt. General Jay Garner, USA (Ret.) Director ... Assign coalition forces to protect major mass graves sites;; Work with local leaders to urge the Iraqi ...
www.phrusa.org/research/iraq/bulletin_042503.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

[LSK]

12. your links do not support your claim

You might want to read through them.

[NNN0LHI]

14. I remember seeing the daily photo-ops at the time on cable TV

He was attempting to say the war was worth it because of all the mass graves he was visiting. Who should I believe you or my lying eyes?

Don

[LSK]

16. I dont even know where to begin

You seem to want to pick a fight with me over what??? Something you saw on TV 3 years ago??? I have State of Denial, Assassins Gate and Fiasco right here. Whether Garner thought at the time that the Iraq invasion was justified or not is irrelevant to him wanting to stabilize the country. Its a FACT that he was undermined by Rummy and Bremer and was a lame duck almost as soon as he arrived in Iraq. He wanted to keep the Iraqi army together to start rebuilding Iraq. He wanted to pay them. He brought together tribal leaders early on for talks.

Bremer disbanded the Iraqi army. Bremer issued the be-Baathication order. Bremer undermined everything Garner started to do.

Now you are attacking me because you provided a bunch of links that do not support your argument.

Thanks, I will now go throw away every book on Iraq I have and just rely on what you saw on TV 3 years ago from now on.

[iconoclastic cat]

15. Wow, that would basically mean taking over their government.

It sounds compelling, though.

[LSK]

17. they havnt had a Govt since 2003

You think they have one now?

[iconoclastic cat]

18. They at least had a (crappy) constitution and parilmentary system!

This would render both of those moot. They'd be Puerto Rico without the cuisine.