Politics and Change

I believe a patriot once stated that, “the price of freedom is the blood of patriots”. He should have added “and attending political meetings”!

As a son of a federal government employee barred from politics by the Hatch Act and then as a military officer and later defense contractor I did not develop a habit or inclination towards being active in politics.

The Bush Administration has changed all that for me! I went all the way in; precinct captain, phone banking, poll watching, caucusing and now conventioning. Time consuming and after this weeks Democratic county conventions in Texas some would say messy but if we really want change we have to pay the price.

I want change, how about you?

Anatomy of a Conflict

I find the drumbeat mantra from Administration apologists for staying in Iraq so that we can "win the war" to be very confusing. How are they defining the conditions of victory? When will they agree to say, "mission accomplished!" in Iraq?

In Iraq we have at least four separate conflicts:

1. Shia vs Sunni - ongoing religious conflict like Protestants vs Catholics in N. Ireland but worse. To some extent this is also a class war in Iraq as the Shia have been out of power for sometime.
   
2. Al Qaeda vs US - Al Qaeda did not exist in Iraq before we removed Sadaam.
   
3. Al Qaeda vs other Moslem sects - Al Qaeda leadership are radical right wing religious Wahabi sect Sunni. Most other Moslem sects are considered almost as bad as the US infidel by these people.
4. Kurds vs Iraq government - This is a minority ethnic group without a country of their own. Mostly in Northern Iraq and Turkey. They would like independence if not possible then they would like to be self ruling. Their nationalists in Turkey are making problems for the US and the Iraq National government. Kurds were gassed by Sadaam. We supported Sudaam after those attacks. But they like us even though we left them in a difficult position after Desert Storm.

Our forces in Iraq have been attacked by Sunni, Shia, and Al Qaeda. Only Al Qeada attacked us before our invasion of Iraq. However, they were not in Iraq prior to our invasion. Their religious Wahabi beliefs are in opposition to Sadaam's Sunni based Baathist party. Their main leadership is not in Iraq but somewhere in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

Shia and Sunni attacks on our troops are generated by two motives. Sometimes nationalistic feelings against a foreign invader but most often we are attacked because we are between them and their religious foes.

Please note that Gen Petraeus' strategy has been to enlist Sunni's support against Al Qaeda by arming their militias in exchange for a cease fire against both Shia and US forces. And to relax pressure on Shia militias in exchange for a cease fire against both Sunni and US forces. Up until two weeks ago this was working well. US trained Iraq government forces began to try and re-establish control in the Basra area which has been under tacit control of Shia militias for sometime. The Shiite militias have responded by launching attacks in Bagdhad against US forces and Iraqi Government facilities in retaliation. Al Qaeda is not involved in these attacks. Sunni are not involved.

Once again I ask that all those calling for us to stay on in Iraq to please define this victory you are asking for. Who is the enemy? Where are their leaders? How will we know when we have won? How does our being in Iraq stop terrorists from coming here, especially as those that planned the 9/11 attacks are not in Iraq?

I have five grandsons. To me this war is not worth one of their lives and I grieve for every life that has been lost there. This is not a political spin game you are asking us to continue. It means the life and death of some of our young people. Yes there will be conflict between Sunni and Shia and probably Kurds when we leave but that conflict will occur whenever we leave, be it 6 months or 6 years from now.v

More Movie Reviews

In keeping with my recent comments about Lions for Lambs I have to offer two more must see movies for those interested in the true costs of the Iraq war.

Both Rendition and In the Valley of Elah were difficult for my wife and I to watch. Having said that, I think every high school senior should watch them and then discuss them with their parents. These films raise questions that we all should ponder about our freedoms and about the costs of war.

I understand from the Bill Moyer's Journal that "A Body of War" is another must see documentary.

Remember election day in November! It is important!

Apathy

Originally Posted 3.25.2008 4:57:39 AM

The last two paragraphs of the editorial on 25 March 2008 titled "4000" are so sad but also so true. The apathy towards the war is the result of many factors but it is an ominous harbinger of the loss of checks and balances on the executive branch of the government.

I recently attended a "peace vigil" to mark the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. Let's face it, this was an antiwar rally, the first that I have ever attended. As a West Pointer, and a US Army veteran of Vietnam this was a big step for me. I thought about it for some time even though I have opposed this war from almost the beginning. In the end, I decided that I had to make a physical statement of my disapproval of this war.

I chose to attend the vigil in San Marcos because I thought that the Texas Capitol vigil might be crowded with more than enough people to make the point. When I arrived at Courthouse Square in San Marcos fifteen minutes before the scheduled event I was concerned that we might have to park too far away to reach the event in time for the beginning. Imagine my surprise when I was able to find a parking space right in front of the Courthouse itself.

I was even more surprised by the size and make-up of the crowd. There were less than 100 people, actually closer to 50 than 100 total, not including a few reporters and photographers. The make up of the crowd (hard to call this a crowd) was even more of a disappointment. The majority were over 50 years of age and mostly old Vietnam War protestors who I believe were reliving their youth as much as anything. In fact the primary speaker spoke more about Vietnam than Iraq and the songs were all old Vietnam War protest songs. The few students who were there didn't even know some of the songs even John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".

I guess I should not have been surprised. This Administration has been very careful to hide the price this country is paying for the war by not asking people directly to sacrifice.

There is no draft of our young people, primarily. The college students at Texas State are not facing an interruption of their lives by being asked to serve their country and their parents do not have to see their kids sent overseas in the middle of their young lives. So few of this group see any need to protest to stop the war. There are also fewer Iraq veterans in the student population than there was in the 60's and early 70's. First because the college bound population has not been drafted. Second because those that are serving are being kept on active duty beyond their enlistments due to the "stop loss" actions of our government needed to maintain troop strength in the face of dwindling recruitment. This means that they have not had a chance to go to college even if they wanted to. There is a third reason that Iraq veterans are not a larger part of the Texas State population and this is another terrible untold secret. The veteran's benefits that allowed WWII and Vietnam veterans to return to school were much greater than today's benefits which require veterans to match any US Government funding received.

The other reason is obvious. Taxes have not been increased to pay for this war. This administration has chosen to go into debt instead of paying as you go, once a conservative principle of the Republican party. This means that the kids in college and their children are the ones who will eventually have to pay this debt but it seems far off in the future. Our society does not think in terms of the future, we are, in general, a "what's happening now" population. Of course the present financial recession that we are experiencing may be the result of this deficit spending spree but that is another story. The result is that the anti-tax crowd was nowhere in evidence last Wednesday.

So the bottom line is scary. This Administration has carefully orchestrated this war so that the majority of our citizens do not think they are directly affected by it. All the polls tell you the majority of voters are appalled by the way this Administration has prosecuted the war; the tremendous strategic errors made in disbanding the Iraqi Army and police forces early on, the lack of proper equipment for our soldiers resulting in unnecessary casualties, the lack of proper medical care for those casualties back here in the United States, our use of torture, and by the obvious lack of enthusiasm of the Iraqi people for our continued presence, etc. What is Vice President Cheney's response to these polls? "So" is his direct quote. This is the quintessence of this Administration's position, total disregard for the will of the people.

Once our government no longer respects the will of the people we are in trouble. This Administration does not respect our will, at least, when it is expressed in polls. They have kept the majority off the streets by seeming to keep our lives disarmingly uninvolved and now they are even giving us “cake” to eat, it is called an economic stimulus payment. I just pray for our Republic that the “silent majority” becomes very loud and boisterous and mans the barricades, excuse me, I mean goes to the voting booth this November. If we do not then our Republic will have been bought and we have no one to blame but our selves

What Would Washington Do?

Originally Posted 3.4.2008 5:30:58 AM

Great editorial this morning. One of those "I didn't know that!" moments followed by an "I am not surprised." moment.
It brings to mind another great quote from Edmund Burke
“Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.”

I doubt anyone in the current administration was aware of this history lesson.

Lions For Lambs

Originally Posted 11.10.2007 2:23:23 AM

I saw the movie, Lions For Lambs last night. I think everyone should see this movie. Regardless of whether you are a high school student or a grandparent, a Republican or a Democrat, for or against our overseas involvements, of majority or minority ethnicity, this movie should move you and offer you something to think about.
What else should we ask of a movie?
Oh yes I guess we should like it to make us laugh. Well two out of three is not bad. There are a few laughs but they are of the uncomfortable kind and soon get left behind.

Open Letter to Senator Hutchinson on Iran

Originally Posted 9.26.2007 7:44:41 AM

Dear Kay:
We have corresponded before in the past on Iraq and energy policy. Today I would like to ask you to be proactive on the Iranian situation.

I ask that you sponsor or support a resolution specifically prohibiting the use of U.S. Armed Forces or Corporate vendors to the US Government to take any military action against Iran without first receiving the advice and consent of the US Congress ie a declaration of war.

You know much more than I the serious debilitation of our ground forces caused by the near continuous combat tours. As a Vietnam vet I knew few two tour guys and almost no three tour soldiers. Today three combat tours is not unusual. It is beginning to have an effect on officer retention as well as recruiting. We do not need a third front.

But most important Iran is the most educated and moderate population in the Arab Middle east. They have been our allies in Afghanistan. The present president aside I believe moderate leadership can rise if nurtured. War is not the way to nurture such a change in leadership.

They are much less a threat to us today than China and Russia were in the cold war days. We did not get into a military conflict with them and yet we won. We must do the same with Iran.

Sincerely,

Dana C. Frandsen Jr.

9/11, Iraq and Democracy at work.

Originally Posted 9.11.2007 7:27:35 PM

Just as many of you, I was appalled by the events of 9/11. At the time, I published a note on my web site asking people to ask themselves what they knew of the world situation before 9/11 and suggested that they might what to become more educated about who likes us and who does not and why. I repeated the often used phrases, "freedom isn’t free" and "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance". I supported our response in Afghanistan. Getting the ringleader of the criminal gang that attacked us was a legitimate response.

There was an outpouring of support for the United States in almost every country of the world. The tribute posted at http://www.usmemorialday.org/images/movies/memflash03.html is a touching reminder of that support. Today we are held in a quite a different light by most peoples around the world except perhaps for a few Sunni ruled kingdoms. I ask you a simple question, why?

No government organization or report has ever said that Iraq had anything to do with the terrible events of 9/11. At the time of the invasion of Iraq I thought it had more to do with our need to secure an oil supply in the face of a looming oil peak and a growing lack of support/instability in Sunni nations. Whatever the reason for our invasion, we won the war but botched the peace terribly. What we see today is the result of incredible poor/hasty planning for the peace and some very poor decisions made on the ground by Bremer and Rundsfeldt with no consultation with the State Department or even the National Security Advisor. Our ground troops are paying the price. And once again I ask, why?

The details of the Iraqi conflict are very convoluted and few people outside of a few Middle Eastern scholars really can explain the myriad of factions and religious organizations involved and how they interact and conflict with each other. I sympathize General Patreaus. He has been put in a very untenable position and one that has no clear cut definition of victory. Eliminating those that claim allegiance to Bin Laden will not end the conflict. The Sunni Shiite rivalry has a religious basis that will never go away and there is nothing we can do to end it other than arming both side to a stand off. This appears to be our strategy in An Wahr. The Kurds stand apart from this conflict and have a stable territory but their own zealots harass Turkey causing us another headache. They will be left at peace by the Sunni and Shiite only until one or the other gains the upper hand over the remainder of the country then they will come knocking on the Kurds door. Or perhaps the Turks will come knocking, particularly if they abandon the non-secular society founded by Ataturk.

Ataturk founded modern Turkey by ruthlessly knocking heads together (or off) of any religious leader who opposed him. We here in the United States have always maintained the separation of religion from government and have enjoyed tremendous freedom and prosperity. We tend to support non-secular leaders for the same reason. One immediate example comes to mind, the Shah of Iran. He was installed by us and supported by us. To maintain power both Ataturk and the Shah did things that Americans were and are uncomfortable with today. There was once such a person in Iraq. His name was Saddam. We supported him against Iran with weapons and equipment as well as intelligence I suspect. This was after he had done some of those things (gassing the Kurds)which we are uncomfortable with today and we knew it even then. So once again I ask a question, why did we let this man invade Kuwait in the first place and then why did we depose him when he was well contained?

Politicians are about getting elected. George Bush is a politician and he has used fear and attacks on others as too weak to wage war to continue his agenda. If this conflict is so important and as we all know if will take a long time to resolve, why has he not raised taxes, increased the force structure and instituted the draft. Rather he has cut taxes and just recently asked for an insufficient force structure increase. In addition he has abridged the personal freedoms of all Americans and condoned torture that I at least was taught was unconscionable. His administration is at the minimum incompetent and at the worst criminal. Either way it is every American’s duty to remain vigilant both from external as well as internal threats. Incompetent or criminal, this administration deserves to be asked hard questions and not unreasoning acceptance of its statements and rational. Our way of doing this has always been through politicians and the press. This is American democracy at work. Please do not scorn it, embrace it, the truth will become apparent.

A Memorial Day Message

Originally posted 5/26/07
A Memorial Day Message

As a West Point graduate and a Vietnam Veteran, Memorial Day has always had special meaning for me. This year it is especially poignant as a classmate, Col Andrew Bachevich, US Army Retired, was notified on Mother’s Day that his son 1st Lt. Andrew Bachevich Jr. was killed in Iraq. This was especially difficult as Col Bachevich, now a professor at Boston University, has been an outspoken critic of the conflict in Iraq. He has written several books and has appeared on national television shows such as Charlie Rose. I have agreed with his position since very early in the conflict and this weekend I feel I must to take this opportunity to ask each of you to consider our country’s involvement in this unnecessary conflict.

The tragedy that was 9/11 had nothing to do with Iraq. No official report has ever claimed a link to the events of 9/11 with Sadaam/Iraq. In fact it is well known that almost every one of the perpetrators were Saudi citizens and Sunni/Wahabi Muslims. I repeat, the perpetrators were Saudi/Sunni not Shia or Kurds who make up the majority of the population of Iraq. At the time of our invasion the President did not claim a link to 9/11. His position was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and Sadaam was a tyrant who could not be trusted not to use them against us. Only after WMD’s were not found was the link to 9/11 announced as a justification. Four years after our very successful invasion conducted by the most powerful military force the world has ever known we have not found any connection to 9/11 or any WMD’s. Sadaam is gone. Why are we still there?

Today in Iraq a civil war is raging between Sunni and Shia with the Kurds trying to stay uninvolved. The Al Qaeda, who are mostly Wahabi, a Sunni sect that consider all other brands of Moslems heretics, and are primarily Saudi, is rushing in to keep the conflict going. It is important to note that almost all funding for Al Qaeda comes from Saudi Arabia, which means oil profits. The United States uses more oil than any other country so that means we are indirectly funding the efforts of Al Qaeda. On the Shia side funding is being provided by Iran, a nation presently ruled by Shia fundamentalists. Under the Shah Iran was our ally in the Middle East and in fact has the most modern philosophical and educated citizenry in the region. Unfortunately the present leadership is no friend of the United States and we have made little effort to change their attitude in the last 20 years. (One might ask if that is because of our relations with the oil rich Sunni states.) What is important to note is this is a civil war between two groups that do not like each other and do not like the US either.

Our soldiers are caught in the middle of this conflict and for what purpose? We cannot stop this religious conflict especially with the troops deployed. We can really not afford to deploy more for a variety of reasons. In this month alone we have lost 87 killed and many more wounded and spent at least $8 Billion dollars. We have only spent $1 Billion dollars on repairing Katrina by comparison. I ask again for what purpose are we paying such a high price?

I urge you to ponder these questions this weekend if for no other reason than to honor the lives of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. Please leave your political persuasions behind in your deliberations. They have no place in deciding a life or death proposition and make no mistake every day will mean the death of one or more American military man and woman. When you have done considering these issues I ask you to let your Congressman and Senators know what you think.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, my effort to honor our heroes.

Get Out of Iraq Campaign

originally posted 4/7/2007

Recently suggestions were solicited about how the Democratic Party should go about a Get Out of Iraq campaign. Here are my suggestions. Comments are welcome.

Iraq is not now nor ever was a physical threat to the United States. The true reasons for why we initially got there have never been adequately explained. There has been much discussion about the fact that the intelligence supporting the need for the Iraq invasion was manufactured or manipulated to make Iraq look like more of a threat than it was. There has been very little discussion about the real motivation for doing this. While some would say that this is water under the bridge. I say, yes, it is also hundreds of thousand deaths in the past including over 3000 American military personnel. The President needs to be held accountable!

Having said that, conspiracy theories will not sell in Peoria so the investigation needs to go on in Congress but not in the Press as part of a political campaign.

So here are the points that need to be made in a political media campaign.

• This is not an "insurgency"! - The use of the word "Insurgency" by the administration spin doctors is designed to link the conflict to similar wars against communist insurgencies which the conservative population have supported in the past. It implies a war against the government of Iraq that can be won by destroying one insurgent organization. This is not the case in Iraq unlike Algeria. There is no monolithic organization of insurgents to destroy.
• The majority of the violence is caused by a conflict between competing religious ideologies within Islam.(see civilian bodies) The United States, a Christian nation to the rest of the world, should not be brokering a peace between warring Islamic factions. Saudi Arabia or a coalition of Islamic states should be doing so. Our soldiers for the most part are caught in the middle of this conflict. 3000+ US casualties vs 100,000+ Iraqi civilians show that our troop casualties are the collateral damage not the other way around as it would be if we were the main target of this conflict.
• The Iraq war is bankrupting the country. We had a surplus at the beginning of the Bush Administration now we do not. Enough said here. Another blog perhaps later.
• The Iraq war has stretched our ground forces to the breaking point. They are short of equipment and manpower and we could not respond to a ground conflict anywhere else in the world if we had to. This includes Iran!
• The Iraqi war has not helped to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. In fact it has exacerbated it and allows other nations to dictate our foreign policy because of that dependency.
• The Iraq war has given fringe Islamic extremists a rallying point for young hot blooded Islamic youth. The location of so many important religious sites in Iraq plays to the cry of "Repel the Infidel!" Afghanistan did not do this.
• The Iraq war will not follow us back home. Yes, terrorism is real and getting more dangerous every day so we can not drop our guard. But staying in Iraq does not end this threat nor will bringing peace to Iraq end the terrorism threat to the US in the future.