Gen. Myers 11 sept. hammer blow to the head
The General who was in charge on September 11, 2001 (for Hugh Henry
Shelton) -- who either let the attacs happen or committed them himself --
the same general is now saying this:
Myers says U.S. should fight extremism
Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman calls for bipartisanship
By Mike Belt -- May 3, 2007
Violent extremism is the biggest threat to the United States and the
American way of life since the Civil War, retired Air Force Gen. Richard
Myers said during a speech at the Dole Institute of Politics on Wednesday
night.
"This is an enemy that is determined. It has a long-range plan," said
Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Extremists have no regular military but they use terrorism with a total
ruthless disregard for human life, Myers said.
"They are going to work on our minds like they work on the minds around
the world of folks where they use terror to create fear," he said.
Myers spoke to more than 500 people who filled the Dole Institute on the
Kansas University campus. The Kansas State University graduate gave this
year's Dole Lecture. The speech also was simulcast at KU's Edwards Campus
in Overland Park.
Myers became Joint Chiefs chairman Oct. 1, 2001, less than a month after
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Seven days after he took office, the
nation was at war in Afghanistan. He retired Sept. 30, 2005, while the
U.S. was embroiled in a second war in Iraq.
Myers described Sept. 11 as a "hammer blow to the head." He said President
Bush was shaken by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"I think he felt, as commander in chief and president, he let the country
down," Myers said.
Terrorists count on fear to cause their enemies to think illogically and
make mistakes, Myers said.
"You see it every day in Iraq when they blow up hospitals and schools," he
said.
Countering extremism should involve many areas of the country's resources,
including strategies that involve economics, education and diplomacy as
well as the military, he said. The war on terrorism and extremism will
take time, he said.
"You've got to get people to not want to be in jihad," Myers said,
referring to the Arabic term for an armed struggle.
Myers said he feels good about Afghanistan's future, but it needs a rural
development plan to lure people away from the poppy fields. In Iraq, the
U.S. needs to continue to pressure that country's government to improve
its performance, he said.
During his speech and during a prespeech interview with the Journal-World,
Myers said he tries to stay apolitical and declined to directly criticize
politicians seeking a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. He did say,
however, that if Iraq falls, extremists will be emboldened.
"I think the ends that Congress wants are appropriate and the means — I
think I'd be careful about the means and the signal it sends to ourselves,
our troops and the signal it sends to our adversaries," Myers told the
Journal-World.
But Myers was critical of the partisanship that has developed in Congress
since the 2004 elections. Bipartisanship is needed to address the serious
issues of extremism, he said.
Myers said his four years as Joint Chiefs chairman were not the easiest,
but they were the most fulfilling because of the challenges in dealing
with Sept. 11 and Iraq.
Myers' speech gave the audience "food for thought" about some serious
issues, said Karl Brooks, associate professor of history and environmental
studies at KU.
"I would have liked to hear more about his thoughts now that he's a
private citizen about mistakes that were made," Brooks said. "He is in a
unique position to look back and say we should have done things
differently and I would encourage my successors to do them differently."
Lawrence resident Bob Burkhart agreed.
"He brings some valuable personal perspective. He's not pretending to
represent national policy," he said.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/may/03/myers_says_us_should_fight_extremism/?city_local
COMMENTS:
I think the biggest threat to the United States and our way of life is
government officials and agencies who break the law and lie to the
American people. What lies? Well the military under Myers lied about the
Pat Tillman/Jessica Lynch episodes so they could use these episodes to
recruit more soldiers; they lied about their knowledge of the hijackers
prior to 9-11 (See operation Able Danger); they lied under oath to the
9-11 Commission about the military's response during 9-11 and they
admitted it. What other lies are out there? Iraq WMDs, Al Queda connection
to 9-11, what really happened on 9-11, why the State Attorney Generals
were fired, the 60 plus "I don't know" and "I don't recall" answers to
Congress by the nation's head of law enforcment, Attorney General
Gonzalez. And then we have Bush saying the Constitution gives him the
power to ignore the Constitution - like the First, Fourth, Fifth, and
other amendments in the Bill of Rights. So there you have it folks -
friendly facism from a General who should, and probably does, know better.
One of the biggest lies is that the War in Iraq was not fought for oil. We
spend more on our military than all other nations in the world. What does
this mean. It means the rest of the world views American not as the
friendly people we tend to be but as a military black boot in their face.
And get this. You don't see this mentioned in Myers's statement, but check
out this report that surfaced in the Boston Globe the other day -
America's military is dangerously reliant on oil. I have argued that one
of the key motivators in the War on Iraq (and its occupation by U.S.
forces) was to secure oil supplies for the military. After reading in The
Globe about this study, it appears what was conjecture is now reality.
Check it out:
logrithmic (Anonymous) says…
Passionannex:
You write: "Can't win? Can't win what? That sounds like you believe you
live in a democracy. How does your head not explode?" Easy - we are not in
a fascist state, yet. We are rapidly moving that way and are probably one
major terrorist attack from seeing marshal law and other outright forms of
repression. Look at what happened at yesterday's immigration march in Los
Angeles to see the form of repression I'm speaking of. No first amendment
there….
Bush has declared himself above the law. Check out "the unitary
executive." Bush believes this concept (and Gonzalez's endorsement of it)
along with the powers granted to him in the War Resolution that led to our
invasion of Iraq provide him with the necessary cover to violate the law.
He has locked up American citizens for years on end, denying them the
rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution by simply calling them
"enemy combatants," a term created to evade the Geneva Conventions.
Why do you feel it is necesary to stretch my words - "control the world?"
You should read how Hitler came to power and the time it took for him to
consolidate his power. These things do not happen overnight. And Bush
knows that control of the world is spelled OIL.
The election was rigged. Check out what is going on in Ohio, where many of
the election officials are facing charges related to what happened in
2004. And Diebold - there is no paper record of the vote. It can be
anything they say it is.
Dylan Avery? One person. Why would him being alive suggest that the
country is not heading towards fascism. And believe me, when I stop
posting, you'll know we're in a fascist state. I've been photographed by
the KBI at peace rallies. They know who I am. They also know I'm a citizen
of this country who pays his taxes and plays the system. I may disagree
with it immensely, but one has to survive.
Your fear of Al Queda is quite irrational. It is your fear that drives you
to support Meyers and his absurd contentions. We are facing global peril
not from desert terrorists but from our own industrial processes. We are
facing global peril not from desert terrorists but the slowly eroding drip
of deficit financed military adventurism and imperialism. We are facing
global peril not from desert terrorists but from the lack of honeybees,
the potential of a biological superbug, etc. These are the real threats we
face. We've spent $1 trillion chasing down Saddam and Bin Laden. One is
dead, the other has evaded us for six years.
Remember the Soviets? The way they treated their citizens. We are moving
that way. We have 2 million plus in jails right now - more than ever in
the history of the country. Detention centers are being created. Our
airports are dragnets. It is 1984, creeping towards us. And your wishing
it weren't so, doesn't make it so.
Earth's magnetic field:
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