Bush To Soil Medal Of Freedom With Three Failures
Amazing chutzpah, even from this president.

Bush will bestow the nation’s highest civilian honor on three men associated with one of our worst foreign policy mistakes. Bush will “honor” Tommy Franks, George Tenet, and Paul Bremer with the Medal of Freedom at a ceremony on December 14.

Bush is going to soil the nation’s highest honor by awarding it to:

·a general who allowed Bin Laden to escape at Tora Bora, oversaw an illegal diversion of resources for an unapproved war, and then sold out our troops in Iraq;

·a CIA director under whose watch 9/11 took place and the nonexistent “slam dunk” Iraqi WMDs never materialized; and

·an administrator who ran a corrupt and incompetent occupation tainted with war crimes.

I’m sure the residents of Iraq will applaud the “freedom” that Bush is commemorating with these "awards." But if I were any of these three accepting these awards while Iraq is in shambles, Bin Laden is at large, and Afghanistan is sliding back into being the world’s largest producer of heroin, I would be embarrassed. http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/003421.html Yeah, these clowns deserve such an honor from the "SHRUB" - give me a break!

Bush to Award Three Medals of Freedom


Bush has chosen retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who oversaw combat in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and the initial invasion of Iraq, former CIA (news - web sites) Director George Tenet and former Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The president will hand out the awards at a White House ceremony Dec. 14, press secretary Scott McClellan said.


Franks is a retired four-star Army general who commanded U.S. forces when Bush ordered the Iraq invasion in March 2003. He didn't decide until summer to endorse Bush's re-election, but then spoke on the president's behalf at the Republican National Convention and campaigned for Bush through the fall.


Tenet left the CIA in July after seven years as director. He was criticized for intelligence failures on his watch, including the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the never-proven prewar allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.


Bremer was the top U.S. official in postwar Iraq until he oversaw the transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government in June.


This fall, Bremer suggested the United States had paid a price in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of major combat operations because it did not have enough troops in place to stop the looting.


Those remarks gave Bush critics ammunition for their claims that the administration's postwar planning was inadequate.


Bremer tried to calm that controversy by saying he had constantly supported the president's strategy in Iraq.


The Medal of Freedom, established by President Truman in 1945 to recognize civilians for their efforts during World War II, was reinstated by President Kennedy in 1963 to honor distinguished service.

Prez Truman and Prez Kennedy would roll over in their graves seeing the "SHRUB" pin these medals on the "THREE STOOGES" - for sure! What a disgrace for this land of ours.

SHRUB, what about the Troops that gave their life, body and mind for your fiasco! Guess you have to be a "YES" man to get tagged with this baby!

Well said David!!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

December 14, 2004| 6:31 p.m. ET

Debasing the Medal of Freedom (David Shuster)



I don't have a problem with Paul Bremer (former US administrator in Iraq), George Tenet (former CIA director), or General Tommy Franks (led the invasion of Iraq.) And I'm convinced that all three did their jobs as best they could under exceptionally trying circumstances.

However, I couldn't help but get sick to my stomach today as I watched President Bush award Bremer, Tenet, and Franks the Presidential medal of freedom. Maybe it was because I spent most of yesterday at Walter Reed Army hospital, interviewing United States soldiers who are learning how to use prosthetic legs and arms because their own got blown off in Iraq. (More on these courageous young men/women tomorrow on Hardblogger and Thursday night on Hardball.) Or maybe I just couldn't get over the apparent contradictions between the record of today's medal of freedom recipients and the qualifications listed on the web site. According to the medal of freedom web site, "this great honor is reserved for individuals the President deems to have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is "given only after careful thought, always sparingly so as not to debase its currency."

"Debase its currency." Hmmm. The 9-11 commission blames the CIA and Tenet for some of the crucial intelligence failures that prevented us from stopping the terrorist attacks. On Iraq, before the invasion, it was Tenet who described the existence of WMD as a "slam dunk." Paul Bremer guided the postwar Iraq effort into chaos and insurgency. And General Tommy Franks, while leading US troops brilliantly to Baghdad, had no plan once US troops got there to secure any part of the nation and prevent looting or sabotage.

Once upon a time, the Presidential medal of freedom was awarded to spies who quietly risked their life for our nation. And in previous years, the medal of freedom has been given President Gerald Ford, President Jimmy Carter, Thurgood Marshall, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, educator Albert Shanker, former Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Bob Dole, philanthropist David Rockefeller, and etc. and etc.

My point is that it is a shame to see a meaningful award turned into the latest political photo-op. I'm glad to hear that George Tenet, Paul Bremer, and Tommy Franks are doing so well in private life. But if the Bush administration wants to review the record of these three, let's have an honest discussion instead of the historical revisionism and political theater that was on center stage today.

Questions/comments DShuster@msnbc.com

kansasgirl
You go girl! Tell it like it is - for sure. Really good post kansasgirl. Welcome to the Veterans section of the forum. Glad to have you on this "Slick" (huey)!

Chris Matthews asked a reporter last night " If this is what you award someone who has done everything wrong, what do you award someone who has done everything right?"

wlibertyGot an answer for Chris Matthews, wliberty. The "SHRUB" would most likely give them jailtime like he is doing to a lot of our Troops in his Iraq fiasco for obeying orders from the higher honchos and Spooks of his CIA. Hang tough wliberty and keep the faith!!

My dad (Retired AF 25 yrs) asked why if Tenet was fired from CIA would you give

him the highest medal awarded to a civilian?

My response was Tenent leaving was to avoid prosecution and to hide the mess

If he stayed congress or senate may push for a inquisition which might yield

a huge mess.

gmanders777
Your dad asked a very awesome question -for sure. Your reply was right on the piaster ($$$)! Just a little about the "SHRUB" hero TENET (What a gem). Tenet left the CIA in July after seven years as director. He was criticized for intelligence failures on his watch, including the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the never-proven prewar allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And a lot more could be said on the rest of the "Three Stooges" that got this medal!

This is a pay off in advance. There 3 are going to be writting books, best sellers, and Bush is going to get some arrows flying his way. These medal might keep a few of the arrows from being taken out of their quiver.

The Repugs have done so much to cast a cloud over Military medals. The Swiftboat Liars, Purple heart bandaids, and now this. (I am aware this is not exclusively a military honor) They have put question marks over all of our cherished metals and the men who wear them. Shame on them.

Bush's 'in your face' arrogance never ceases to amaze me.

I guess the person that does things right, gets awarded with his/her walking papers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Dec15.html

Presidential Medals of Failure

By Richard Cohen
Thursday, December 16, 2004; Page A37

Where's Kerik?

This is the question I asked myself as, one by one, the pictures of the latest Presidential Medal of Freedom awardees flashed by on my computer screen. First came George Tenet, the former CIA director and the man who had assured President Bush that it was a "slam-dunk" that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Then came L. Paul Bremer, the former viceroy of Iraq, who disbanded the Iraqi army and ousted Baathists from government jobs, therefore contributing mightily to the current chaos in that country. Finally came retired Gen. Tommy Franks, the architect of the plan whereby the United States sent too few troops to Iraq.

One by one these images flicked by me, each man wearing the royal-blue velvet ribbon with the ornate medal -- one failure after another, each now on the lecture circuit, telling insurance agents and other good people what really happened when they were in office, but withholding such wisdom from the American people until, for even more money, their book deals are negotiated. (Franks has already completed this stage of his life. His book, "American Soldier," was a bestseller.)



I braced myself. Could Bernard Kerik be next? Would we skip the entire process of maladministration, misjudgments in office and sycophantic admiration of the current president and go straight to the celebrated failure? After all, what seems to matter most to this president is not performance -- certainly not excellence -- but a matey kind of loyalty and obsequiousness, of which Kerik had plenty.

"Bernie," Bush called out at a White House ceremony last year.

Kerik, who was walking away, stopped. "Yes, sir," he said.

"You're a good man," the president said.

It is this manly affection that explains how Kerik came to be nominated to head the Department of Homeland Security. The president liked him. He was the president's kind of guy: a wayward, messy kind of youth and then -- wow! -- this explosive career, coming out of the starting gate like Seabiscuit, another runt with something less than an elite East Coast pedigree. What's more, he had been recommended by Rudy Giuliani, another very tough guy who, everyone somehow forgot, is a man hobbled by awful judgment, in people as well as in himself.

Had the president given the awards a moment's thought, he might have asked himself what he was doing. A pretty good argument can be made that Tenet was incompetent. He not only failed to prevent the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 but he failed to protect the president from what has to be a historic embarrassment: the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

As for Franks and Bremer, they cannot -- on the face of it -- both deserve medals. Since coming home from Iraq, Bremer has said the United States did not use enough troops there. "We never had enough troops on the ground," he confided to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in October. This allowed the looting that broke out shortly after Baghdad was captured and the subsequent insurgency. For the record, Franks -- prodded by Donald Rumsfeld -- is the guy who never had enough troops on the ground. Which one deserved the medal? Easy. Neither.

The White House medal ceremony was really about George W. Bush. It had a slight touch of the absurd to it, as if facts do not matter and failure does not count. The War to Rid Iraq of WMD has now become The War to Bring Democracy to the Middle East. No one is ever held accountable, because the president will not do as much for himself. He admits no mistakes because he is convinced that he has made none. The terrorist attacks themselves, for which Tenet should have been sacked, are no one's fault because they cannot be the president's fault. He was warned. Condi Rice was put on notice. But, still, who could have known?

To make these awards in the face of failure -- the mounting American death toll, the awful suffering of the Iraqis, the looming possibility of civil war, the nose-thumbing of the still-at-large Osama bin Laden and the madness of making war for a nonexistent reason -- has the creepy feel of the old communist states, where incompetents wore medals and harsh facts were denied. For this reason Bernie Kerik -- three months in Iraq building a police force as good as rhetoric can make it -- seemed as likely and appropriate a recipient of a presidential medal as any of the others.

Maybe next year.

cohenr@washpost.com

Obviously, it's become the Medal of Kissup.

George Tenet?? George "Slam dunk" Tenet, if that don't beat all.

Makes ya wonder what Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Elmer J Fud will be gettin' for their service.

Buying silence: Bush awards Medal of Freedom to key figures in Iraq debacle
President Bush’s awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday to three of the chief architects and executors of the Iraq war is an affront to the concept of freedom of Orwellian proportions.

The White House ceremony that saw Bush bestow the gold medallions on retired general Tommy Franks, former CIA Director George Tenet and former US administrator in Iraq L. Paul Bremer for their roles in an illegal war and brutal occupation that have killed 100,000 Iraqis and 1,300 US soldiers could not come as a shock to those who follow this administration with a degree of critical thought and are genuinely devoted to the principle of freedom. Many people throughout the world will react, appropriately, with revulsion.

The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor bestowed in the name of the American people. The dispensation of the award for overtly political purposes is by no means unprecedented. President Lyndon B. Johnson, for example, in the final 24 hours of his presidency in January 1969, gave out 20 medals, including to McGeorge Bundy and Walt W. Rostow, two leading Vietnam War advisers.

Johnson, however, used the award to defend his war policies on the eve of leaving office in response to mounting popular opposition and growing conflicts within the US ruling elite fueled by the worsening military situation in Southeast Asia. The timing of Bush’s awards, and the individuals honored, are clearly meant to show that the military quagmire in Iraq, the continuing opposition within the American population, and the increasingly bitter divisions within the state apparatus—including the military itself—will not deter his administration from continuing its militaristic policy—not only in Iraq, but against future targets of US aggression.

The glaring contradiction between Bush’s praise for the three honorees and the disasters over which they presided—in Tenet’s case, within the US as well as in Iraq—points to an additional motive behind the awards. In the atmosphere of crisis and palace intrigue surrounding the Bush White House, the medals suggest a payoff to buy the silence of individuals in a position to tell tales that could prove highly damaging.

The awards ceremony took place only days after US soldiers about to be shipped to Iraq confronted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Kuwait on the lack of armored vehicles and the “stop loss” policy of forcing soldiers to remain in the military beyond their agreed term.

An indication of the anger growing among the troops was given by Paul Rieckhoff, a former Army lieutenant who served in Iraq and presently heads an organization of veterans opposed to the war. He called the awards “a slap in the face to the troops” from “an administration that loves the big PR move...It validates how out of touch Washington is with the reality of what is on the ground in Iraq.”

On the very day of the ceremony, Republican Senator John McCain declared that he had “no confidence” in Rumsfeld. The same day, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced plans to hold hearings when the new Congress convenes next month on the unprepared state of the military and complaints from troops on shortages.

The triumphant pose struck by Bush, the honorees and the assembled dignitaries in the East Room of the White House was belied by the actual records of the recipients. Bush heaped praise on three men who retired from their posts in semi-disgrace. Each, in his own way, had a direct role in what will be reckoned by future historians as major debacles for US imperialism.

Bush lauded Franks, who was the overall commander of the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, for his Iraq war plan, which utilized “a force half the size of the force that won the Gulf War” to reach Baghdad in less than a month, “the fastest, longest armored advance in the history of American warfare.” He did not reprise his talk from last summer of a “catastrophic success” in Iraq—Bush’s way of acknowledging that Frank’s military plan failed utterly to anticipate the fierce resistance to US occupation—a popular insurgency for which the US military was unprepared.

But, as Bush well knows, Frank’s military plan was dictated by the civilian leadership at the Pentagon, headed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and backed by Vice President Dick Cheney. Basing themselves on the delusions of the neo-conservatives in the Pentagon such as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, they insisted that a small US force could not only quickly oust Saddam Hussein, but that the American invaders would be hailed by the Iraqi people as liberators and Washington would have little difficulty installing a puppet regime and begin drawing down its troop strength within months of the invasion.

Franks, who initially opposed Rumsfeld’s plan and called for a much larger US military force, could add a great deal of fuel to the bitter divisions that already exist within the military and between sections of the military brass and Rumsfeld. He could also, were he so inclined, explode the lie that Bush decided on war against Iraq only as a last resort, and document first hand the detailed planning for an invasion that began even as the war in Afghanistan was in progress.

Bremer, installed as the US proconsul in Iraq within weeks of the March, 2003 invasion, presided over a humanitarian catastrophe for the Iraqi people and a political and military debacle for the US. The growth of the insurgency and fragility of the US occupation were underscored by his somewhat farcical exit from Iraq. At the White House ceremony, Bush praised the “transfer of sovereignty that ended [Bremer’s] tenure” at the end of June 2004, but failed to note that the “end” of the US occupation and handover of power to Washington’s hand-picked interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, was hurriedly arranged two days early and held in secret for fear that insurgents would attack the affair. Bremer himself stole from Iraq, quite literally, like a thief in the night.

He has since come under attack from sections of the political establishment and the media for his decision to disband the defeated Iraqi Army and exclude former Baath Party members from any role in the occupation government, relying instead on US-backed exiles. Bremer himself caused political problems for the Bush reelection campaign last October when he told a meeting he had repeatedly asked for more US troops and had been turned down, by implication blaming his failure to secure the country and win the support of the population on the smallness of the US military presence.

Tenet, a holdover from the Clinton administration who headed the Central Intelligence Agency for seven years until his June, 2004 resignation, figured centrally not only in the preparations for the Iraq invasion, but also the greatest intelligence disaster in US history—the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington DC. On both counts, he became a symbol of incompetence, conspiracy and deceit. He has been roundly criticized by congressional committees and the 9/11 commission for his roles in connection with the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as the Iraq war.

Tenet supplied and vouched for the phony intelligence on alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and Iraq-Al Qaeda ties that was used to justify the war. Potentially even more explosive is his knowledge of the events surrounding the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

To this day the utter failure of the Bush administration and the CIA to take any serious measures to thwart an Al Qaeda attack that was known to be in the offing remains unexplained. Tenet, better than most, would know precisely who in the US intelligence establishment and Bush administration allowed the attacks to take place. The political motives for doing so were already clear in the way the Bush administration seized on the tragedy to implement both foreign and domestic policies of a far-reaching and reactionary character that would have been politically impossible, except under the banner of a “war on terror.”

If and when those responsible for the atrocity unfolding in Iraq are brought to justice, the latest Medal of Freedom recipients, and the man who bestowed them, will find themselves reunited in the dock of a war crimes tribunal, where they belong. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/dec2004/mofr-d16.shtml

Please take a few minutes to read a thread that was active during the award ceremony but has sunk into the archives - target='_blank'>


http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/for...156&hl=mcgovern

I documented the history of this medal and provided the profile of a couple of legitimate recipients.

Paine
Some heavy posts in there about this medal BS --for sure. Feel free to invite those people on over to the Vet section of this forum. Tell them to bring a few Brews and most of the stool sitters here will be happy ! LOL Seems like most of the Vets that speak their mind go to other sections of this forum Paine. Need some new blood in here and get rid of the Military.Com, yes-sir, career types that I personally see in this section of this Forum. I know there is more Radical and free spirit Vets out there in this forum who could change the "I was in the Serviice For 30 year" atmosphere in this section. You know what I mean Paine---read some of this trash in here! LOL - Hang Tough--

Why do you insist on glorifying war? That's all you veterans talk about, what does that horrible eagle thing supose to mean?

Willie Damn good letter to that news rag Bro'. And got a chuckle from ol' corgi there for sure. Some do not think before they let their mouth flap Bro'. Those are the same kind of sheople who spit at us when we came back from the Nam Bro'. And who paid for our Ammo, training and killing? Yup's like corgi and her mornin' dove! LOL Get the bird shot and shotguns out Bro', time to do a little clay pigeon popping! LOL Hang Tough Bro'. Pull Bro' ! LOL

Dubya is a disgrace to us all!

It's one of those remarks he makes every so often to make people think he is objective. Don't believe it.

I don't know about mickey mouse, donald duck, or goofy: but Bugs bunny, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck did exceptional service in World War II... Me, four years active (Beautiful Downtown Ft. Stewart 5/52nd ADA, 24th Mech., Stormin Normin' post CG), three NTC rotations in 19 months (the bumper sticker that says 'Happiness is seeing Ft. Erwin in your rear view mirror'), six years reserve, almost activated to desert storm, just missed lottery call in early 70's... At age 19 I said one stupid thing to Viet vet and regreted it since... I joined later... for all that understand FTA and still did their duty, and that US ARMY also stands for Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet, forgive the poor child for the stupid remarks a couple of weeks ago... I was a chairborne ranger, motor pool clerk that helped keep the trucks rollin...
Ever heard of a Gamma Goat that needed a truss kit. I helped process out 35 of them to be traded for HUM V's...
Oh yea, Medals of Freedom for Tenat, Frank, and Bremer... Frank, Tenat and Bremer being given the highest civilian medal is just plain silly. They barely warrant one of those Certificates of Participation they xerox off after hours at a battalion hq, you know, something they would have a CQ duty NCO do to kill time...
Here's a holler to Ohio 612 engineers soon departing to George's sandbox,... keep yer head's down and yer powder dry... come home safe, I'll pray for peace...