WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - Several Senate Republicans denounced other lawmakers and the news media on Thursday for unfavorable depictions of the Iraq war and the Pentagon urged members of Congress to talk up military service to help ease a recruiting shortfall.
Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said at a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Families are discouraging young men and women from enlisting "because of all the negative media that's out there,"
Inhofe also said that other senators' criticism of the war contributed to the propaganda of U.S. enemies. He did not name the senators.
Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker urged members of Congress to use "your considerable influence to explain to the American people and to those that are influencers out there how important it is for our young people to serve this nation at a time like this."
"With the deluge of negative news that we get daily, it's just amazing to me that anybody would want to sign up," said, a Kansas Republican, Sen. Pat Roberts.
Does that include your three grown children too Pat or are you encouraging them not to listen to the "Negative News" and get down to your favorite recruiter now to "Sign Up"? Have you spoken up in Congress and said "Lets show the way Mister President and my colleges. Lets encourage all of our children to sign up for combat duty in Iraq.
I have a great Idea Pat. Lets not pay attention to any of those news media gurus, especially the liberals. Let's just have our young people listen to the "True" words that the Administration puts out and they will be trampling each other to sign up, I think.
Here are a few examples.........
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction".
Dick Cheney: August 26, 2002
"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons".
President Bush: September 12, 2002
"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons. We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have'".
President George Bush: October 5, 2002
"The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."
President Bush: October 7, 2002
"If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world".
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary: December 2, 2002
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised".
President Bush: March 17, 2003
"Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes".
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary: March 21, 2003
"There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them".
General Tommy Franks: March 22, 2003
"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
Donald Rumsfeld: March 30, 2003
"I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now."
Colin Powell: March 4, 2003
"We said all along that we will never get to the bottom of the Iraqi WMD program simply by going and searching specific sites, that you'd have to be able to get people who know about the programs to talk to you."
Paul Wolfowitz: May 13, 2003
"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."
Paul Wolfowitz: May 28, 2003
"It was a surprise to me then -- it remains a surprise to me now -- that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there."
Lt. Gen. James Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force: May 30, 2003
"No one ever said that we knew precisely where all of these agents were, where they were stored."
Condoleeza Rice: Jun 8, 2003
"I'm not sure that's the major reason we went to war"
Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader: Jun 26, 2003
"I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."
Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary: July 9, 2003
Question from Diane Sawyer: "But stated as a hard fact, that there were weapons of mass destruction as opposed to the possibility that he could move to acquire those weapons still?"
Answer: President Bush: "So what's the difference?" December 16, 2003
"The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose to the world."
Colin Powell: February 5, 2003
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us"
Dick Cheney:
"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical-weapons agent."
Colin Powell:
"My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we are giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."
"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical-weapons agent."
Colin Powell:
"I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months."
Dick Cheney: March 16, 2003.
"They [insurgents] will do everything they can to disrupt the process up to those elections in January because they know that once you've got a democratically elected government in place that has legitimacy in the eyes of the people of Iraq, they're out of business. That will be the end of the insurgency."
Dick Cheney October 28 2004
"The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office."
Jun 19, 2005:
Here is the statement from an administration member that I believe to be the most true. Maybe we can use this to convince our young people the "War in Iraq" is worth signing up for.
"The question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth?... And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the president made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.... All of a sudden you've got a battle you're fighting in a major built-up city, a lot of civilians are around, significant limitations on our ability to use our most effective technologies and techniques.... Once we had rounded him up and gotten rid of his government, then the question is what do you put in its place? You know, you then have accepted the responsibility for governing Iraq.... Now what kind of government are you going to establish? Is it going to be a Kurdish government, or a Shi'ia government, or a Sunni government, or maybe a government based on the old Baathist Party, or some mixture thereof? You will have, I think by that time, lost the support of the Arab coalition that was so crucial to our operations over there."
-Dick Cheney, speaking about the Gulf War in 1992
I did not print anything here that was not "The Truth" as foretold by "The powers that be."
President Bush made a remark Wednesday night about "Not forgetting the lessons of Sep 11, 2001. I applaud the President for removing the Taliban of Afghanistan from power.
As far as Iraq, I think it is important we remember the lessons of August, 4th 1964.
If you feel I came across as Negative, Unpatriotic American that does not support his country in time of war, so be it. I would like to discuss it further with you but you see, I am a little busy right now. I apologize, but I have Duty tonight, and tomorrow, and Sunday and Monday also. I will be spending my 4th of July weekend as I have many others, in service to my country.
Sincerely
Joe Muharsky
Volunteer: 1966 United States Navy, age 18
Volunteer: 1967 U.S.S. Brister, Destroyer Escort #327, Vietnam, Age 19
Volunteer: 1968 Forward Machine Gunner, PCF (Swift Boat) 78, DaNang, Age 20
Volunteer: 1969 Forward Machine Gunner, PCF (Swift Boat) 94, An Thoi, Age 21
Awarded: Six medals, 4 citations including Bronze "V" earned in combat.
For service to my country.
Operation Market Time, Operation Seal Lords, Operation Phoenix
Recipient:
First "Admiral Zumwalt Humanitarian Award"
From "The Swift Boat Sailors Association - 2003
Volunteer: Coxswain and Flotilla Operations Officer
United States Coast Auxiliary 2002 - present, Age 55
Recipient: SAR (Search and Rescue) Team 9 Award
From "The United States Coast Guard - 2004 Age 57
Recipient: First Place Division 9 Coxswain Award.
From: United States Coast Guard Auxiliary- 2004
107 missions and 314 hours underway. May-Sep, 2004
P.S. I thought I might get my wife to finish my thoughts but then I remembered she has Duty also.
Volunteer: Donna May Muharsky: Qualified Crew Member, Age 52
United States Coast Auxiliary 2002 - present.
Recipient: Third Place Crew Member
From: United States Coast Guard Auxiliary- 2004
47 Missions and 158 hours underway. May-Sep, 2004