[...] for trial; former Bush AG Mukasey to respond at Federalist Society this afternoon Flopping Aces: Obama’s Gitmo guru plays fall guy as admin backpeddles on facility closure VotingFemale Speaks! Obama will Torture New Yorkers; Will Try 911 Terrorist War Fighters as common [...]

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[...] Obama’s Gitmo guru plays fall guy as admin backpeddles on facility closure [...]

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@MataHarley:

high strung emotions and BS

Blast high strung and emotional? Get outta here!

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Mata: My “whole piece” is an attack on Lehnert? No, Blast. My “whole piece” is an attack on Obama. Lehnert got six paragraphs of my commentary, of which only three questioned his timing and motives.

That is funny, really. *Only six paragraphs, three of which questioned his timing and motives* – what is the threshold on whether the piece is not an attack on him or or is not? One, three, six paragraphs or, all of them. Basket weaver. A thread of this a thread of that. It does not look good.

You make such a grand little apologist, Blast. Deficient on history if you think manufacturing and industry bolting the country began with the one you so love to hate, Bush.

It did not just begin with Bush, but if you look at what happened during his presidency, the results speak for themselves – big time. If anyone is an “apologist” would be anyone that would defend the former President.

Done with you.

Good night.

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Blast#11: You make such a grand little apologist, Blast. Deficient on history if you think manufacturing and industry bolting the country began with the one you so love to hate, Bush.

Done with you.

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My “whole piece” is an attack on Lehnert? No, Blast. My “whole piece” is an attack on Obama. Lehnert got six paragraphs of my commentary, of which only three questioned his timing and motives. All very legitimate in an op-ed… in case you didn’t know what you’re reading. gasp…. I called him an opportunist. woof… harsh

Now compare those three paragraphs to thirteen paragraphs on the “whole piece” subject of Obama using fall guys to mask his own hasty decision failure. Duh…

Slow down in your reading, and don’t bother me with your high strung emotions and BS. Lehnert did not speak out publicly when he said it was a mistake… not for over seven years. In fact, he doesn’t do so until… magically… the WaPo has a big tadooo on the WH admission of failure, and the occupants are dragging out every scapegoat they can find.

It’s all about deflecting attention from the “whole piece”. And evidently, it works on you.

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Mata: I don’t even mind that he has his opinions on Gitmo.

Sure you do. Your whole piece is an attack on him. You can’t sugar coat it with some oh, he is a humanitarian and then attack his motives with NO REAL EVIDENCE outside of your supposition about the timing.

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Mata: I see…. so if you thought the stench was strong under Bush, you think that’s the “get out of jail free card” for Obama to quadruple the garbage. i.e. “hey, it was already a garbage pile… what’s a little more?”

Mata the truth hurts huh? Stench is stench. President Bush would have been out of power as well as the Republicans much earlier if they did not artifically inflate the bubble and DESTROY our economy. Not only did we ship our manufacturing sector to China, we borrowed money from them to inflate the bubble. Now we make jack. Great free market policies America, right on… keep up the good work… at this rate we are not only bankrupt we don’t have any tangible assets to use to get ourselves out of the hole (hey why not let GM crumble for good measure or bitch about saving it). That did not just happen in JUST the past 8 months Mata… we are in a world of hurt and I am not drinking the tea. Pres Obama is spending way too much, but where the hell were the true conservatives the past 8 years, tax cuts that bottom line were deficits… a false economy of paper bs. Everyone that was in a love fest with the past president can’t wash that stink off themselves.

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For a flashback in history, let’s examine the Maj. General’s comments in Jan 2002… this from a very anti-Gitmo Reuters article at the beginning of this year, or seven years after Lehnert’s comments below.

“We have no intention of making it comfortable,” task force commander Marine Brigadier General Michael Lehnert told reporters at Guantanamo just before the first captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters arrived in January 2002.

“It will be humane,” he said.

~~~

“We asked for the bad guys first,” Lehnert had said.

Lehnert built both Camp Xray and Delta. His tour ended in March 2002… two months later, and prior to the time when the rumors started arising over interrogation techniques and the split under the two new commanders.

I have a great deal of respect for the Maj General… and for his work at Guantanamo in the 90s with the Cuban refugees. I don’t even mind that he has his opinions on Gitmo. His compassion and humanitarianism for the prisoners is well known, and commendable as a caring human being. Not doubt he even extended that to many of the undeserving.

My problem with the Maj. General is his suspect timing for his now vocal opposition and criticism… appearing simultaneously with the WH back room scramble for blame. Just a tad too coincidental for my tastes.

And what’s the point, since Obama’s desperately seeking a way to close it anyhow? Exactly what is this new found confession supposed to accomplish in the close Gitmo debate? (especially since it’s been a model facility for years….) Did the nation need one more reason to despise the Gitmo in the early years?

Lehnert’s not the only military official to speak out against Gitmo, nor the most credible for the post 2002 era of operations. So again, I have to wonder just why he feels the need to unload when the current admin is of the “close Gitmo” mind. Since it’s so johnny-come-lately for everything, I can only come to the conclusion that it’s opportunity.

I can’t blame the gentleman for thinking ahead. Especially in light of the growing chasm between Obama and his heretofore chosen Afghanistan commanders. After all, Obama does have yet another “gitmo” in Bagram, where detainees are held indefinitely as enemy combatants, and sans habeas corpus rights.

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Lehnert enjoyed quite a meteoric rise from the enlisted ranks to his current two-star status. He would be considered a “water walker.” I’m just speculating here, but maybe it went to his head and he considered the sky the limit. Then, when he failed to get that third star, his ego was bruised and he blamed it on his Gitmo assignment. Some of these guys can’t accept that retirement eventually comes to everyone. Being a military officer is like being a professional athlete. Eventually you have to retire from the arena and create a new life for yourself. It can be a painful transition. I appreciate and admire the service he gave to his country and I wish him the best. I just hope this isn’t a shameless pitch for a high ranking job in the current administration.

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