Right-wing pundits were provided with the facts from the Secretary of Defense and the chair of the Joint Chiefs -- debate in congress about the war being waged in Iraq does not demoralize troops and provides clear examples of how our nation is meant to conduct itself.
"Pace and Gates said they did not think debate in Congress would hurt the morale of troops in combat, undercutting an assertion by many congressional Republicans that members opposing the war were undermining the fighting forces there.
As long as this Congress continues to do what it has done, which is to provide the resources for the mission, the dialogue will be the dialogue, and the troops will feel supported," Pace said."
It's plain if someone does not underestand this fundamental action of open debate, they do not understand or appreciate our basis of government. Period.
More coverage of their testimony is here
In related news - something which does harm U.S. efforts in Iraq: War Profiteering.
Five people, both civilian and military, have been indicted on bribery charges related to the funneling of millions meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq.
"The 25-count indictment charged U.S. Army Col. Curtis Whiteford, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Debra Harrison and Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler, and civilians Michael Morris and William Driver. Whiteford once was the second most senior official at the Coalition Provisional Authority for the South Central Region in Iraq, while Harrison was its acting comptroller. Wheeler was an advisor for Iraqi reconstruction projects."
Also, more oversight from the House Democrats provides contract records that had been reported "missing". Details are in this post from "Facing South."
an // Feb 9th 2007 at 7:49 pm
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that the day after the CPA gets grilled that indictments are brought against these individuals accused. What a coincidence.
I know two of the people indicted. Lt Col Debra Harrison is my sister, and her husband William Driver.
She is a decorated officer. She earned her Purple Heart. She was ambushed twice. The second time after her tour in Iraq ended, and she extended.
I do know that my sister did not know that anything was wrong at CPA-SC. She was only there a couple of months at the end as the CPA shut down. She made the mistake of extending her service to help with that process.
Debra broke inside after her second ambush. She was with strangers. She couldn’t sleep. She took every pill, and drank every drop of alcohol she could get. She worked to numb herself. She wanted to die, but not in Iraq.
I do know that she was abandoned by the United States when she was told to find her own way home. She received an email telling her there was no room for her on the cargo plane for her return. There was room for every CPA person scheduled to leave from Bagdad, but not my sister and four other soldiers. Yet, part of the indictment against her says she used a plane ticket purchased with CPA money. She did not purchase that ticket, but she did use it. It was her only way out, and she was instructed to use that ticket.
It was so dangerous at that time that the Department of Justice Auditors were too afraid to come to Hillah to go through the papers. They told my sister to bring it all to them in the safety of the Green Zone. No one reported to my sister, and she had no one to report to. The Colonel in charge, Michael Whitehead, was gone, the Comptroller, Robert Stein, was gone. How in the world was she to get that huge amount of information to Baghdad from Hillah by herself. She couldn’t do it.
She suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and receives treatment for that disorder through the VA.
Hold off on any criticism of any soldier accused in this mess. I know for a fact that the accusations against my sister are false. No matter what the Department of Justice asserts. Keep in mind, they are the same people who vetted Robert J Stein to be in carge of the CPA-SC operation. My sister certainly didn’t know that the man who told her what to do was a convicted felon.
These guys in their double breasted suits and shiny black shoes need to get a reality check.
What hypocracy!