Glenn Greenwald Quotes General To Smack Down Neocons and The Victory Caucus

Glenn Greenwald takes on the “Victory Caucus” which suffers from the fantasy that our current policies in the middle east serve the national interests of the United States. He compares their logo to the totalitarian logos seen in V For Vendetta and the movie version of 1984:

The bulk of Greenwald’s post consists of quotes from Lt. Gen. William Odom, former director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan and head of Army intelligence. Odom had an op-ed in the Washington Post last week arguing that Victory is Not an Option. Odom was interviewed by Bush-worshipper Hugh Hewitt and Greenwald has several selections. Here are a couple of the highlights:

On the fear-mongering tactics used to oppose withdrawal:

HH: Now you also write in the article that we must, that you dismiss the idea it will get worse if we leave.

WO: No, I said it doesn’t matter how bad it gets, it’s not going to get better by us staying there. You see, I’m not one of those — I personally think that we might end up finding less of a terrible aftermath than we’ve pumped ourselves up to expect, because the President and a lot of other people have really made a big thing of trying to scare us about that. What I’m saying is even if their scare scenarios turn out to be the case, that is the price we have to pay to get out of this trap, and eventually bring a stability to that region which if the Iraqis and other Arab countries want to become liberal systems, they can do it. They’re not going to do it the way we’re headed there now. . . .

HH: So you don’t think it can get worse?

WO: Yeah, it can get worse. It’s gotten worse every year.

HH: But how much worse could it get if we weren’t there?

WO: I don’t know. I don’t think it — look, it will eventually get as bad it can get if we stay there long enough. . . .

HH: So how many people do you think will die [if we withdraw]? . . . And as a result, that doesn’t matter, though?

WO: And so you can sit there and fantasize any scale you want to, to scare people into continuing to do stupid things.

On the imbecilic World War II/Churchill analogy:

HH: You would have been with which party in Great Britain in the 30’s? Let me ask it that way. Was Churchill —

WO: I was — it’s not analogous to today at all. . . .

HH: Yes, but did Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain ignore the statements of Hitler, and put it down as just rhetoric?

WO: This is — Ahmadinejad is not — he does not have German industry. He does not preside over a country which was becoming the major industrial power in Europe.

HH: Yeah, but he will have . . .

WO: He’s in a backward country with a group of people who are becoming poorer and poorer as a result of his policies.

HH: But he will have . . .

WO: And if you can’t see the difference between that, then I’m very disappointed in your judgment.

On the hysteria and simplicity of neoconservatism:

HH: So what [Adhmedinijad and Iranian 12th Imam Millenialists] think and what their intentions are don’t matter, General?

WO: You don’t know what their intentions are. You’re just listening to their rhetoric. . . .

HH: Well, should we ever pay attention to what people say?

WO: Yes, we should pay attention sometimes, but I can — I’d pay attention to that, and when I do, I see that it’s very much really the way Kim Jung Il uses his rhetoric. He knows how to cause us to jump up in the air and get all excited, and cause people of your frame of mind, and particularly the neocons’ frame of mind, to start doing things that are not in the U.S. interests. And then as you hit the ground, we’d pay him off and bribe him.

There’s far more worth reading both in Greenwald’s post and in the full transcript of the interview.

1 Comment

  1. 1
    Mullah Cimoc says:

    Mullah Cimoc say too much jack bauer tv show make ameriki so stupid for hate the muslim, loving the torture, bow down for masters in tel aviv.

    this all rupert murdoch tv show man mind control this way.
    This evil doing for usa media , now control so few company. Benjamin Frankling not like this not free press now in usa amerika.

    for please now google: mighty wurlitzer +cia

    then aemriki people know not free press in usa now. just keep the ameriki so stupid for serve the master in tel aviv.

Leave a comment