I came home from work about 11:00PM and turned on the channel. I cam across Hardball, and they had Jean Schmidt on. Change the channel and fast. Then I hit Foxnews and the O'Reilly factor. I was going to turn the channel when O'Reilly said these words. " Things are really bad in Iraq". I was stunned to say the least. Isn't this the network that brands you a traitor if you so much as breathe a bad word about Iraq?
O'Reilly's guests were Cols. David Hunt and Bill Cowan. Then I thought here we go, it's pablum time with the positive spin. But no!!! Both Hunt and Cowan ripped the war at present. Hunt said that only 2 of the 90 divisions in Iraq were trained and ready for combat. He also said the insurgents were better armed and trained than a year ago, and the Iraqi's were not ready to stand up and fight for their own country.
He also ripped Donald Rumsfeld for not having enough troops in theatre, and for not shooting straight with the American people.
For his part, Cowan was a little more optomistic, but not much as he said factional fighting could lead Iraq into a civil war. While he did say that the Kurds in the north were better off, both Sunni's and Shiites were vying for control, with the American troops caught in the middle. Shiite killing Sunni and vice versa was a big problem.
Both said the war was winnable, but cast a lot of doubt about Iraq in the near future. Cowan mentioned the 1800 American deaths, the 13,500 wounded and the 50,000 Iraqi civilian deaths as horrible.
For the 10 minute segment, I was stunned. Here were three Foxnews guys ripping the war, ripping the defense secretary and ripping the President for poor planning. Maybe miracles do happen sometime, but I think this will be a one time event. Old Rupert won't put up with disparaging remarks about Iraq for long. But for those 10 minutes, these guys finally told the truth. Iraq is in a quagmire, and we may not be able to win this one. Will wonders never cease!!!
