Mitt Romney's Re-writing History on Pakistan, bin Laden

Remember last week when Republicans were making a big deal about President Obama taking credit for the death of Osama bin Laden?

Who cares that he had to make the final decision whether to go in or not.  I mean, we don't elect Presidents to make decisions, do we?

And then Republicans were all up in arms when Democrats had the nerve to point out that Mitt Romney wouldn't have made that decision.  I mean, how could Democrats know what Mitt Romney would do?

Well, because Mitt Romney version 2007 told us:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Democrat Barack Obama on Friday for vowing to strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan if necessary as the Obama camp issued a strident defense of his plan.

What had been an internecine foreign policy battle between rival Democrats Obama, an Illinois senator, and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, spilled into the Republican arena in the heavily contested state of Iowa.

"I do not concur in the words of Barack Obama in a plan to enter an ally of ours... I don't think those kinds of comments help in this effort to draw more friends to our effort," Romney told reporters on the campaign trail.

Obama on Wednesday said if elected president in November 2008 he would be willing to launch military strikes against al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan with or without the approval of the Pakistani government of President Pervez Musharraf.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," Obama said.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is one of the Republican front-runners, said U.S. troops "shouldn't be sent all over the world." He called Obama's comments "ill-timed" and "ill-considered."

"There is a war being waged by terrorists of different types and nature across the world," Romney said. "We want, as a civilized world, to participate with other nations in this civilized effort to help those nations reject the extreme with them."

Oops.  Of course, Mitt has been known to change his mind once in a while.  It's the only thing he is consistent on.

Nine Thoughts on Nine Years

1. It's still hard to reflect on what happened that day. May it always be hard to remember those thoughts and emotions.

2. The first incarnation of "The World, According to Me" was started September 3, 2001. It was a place I could go and vent about life. Writing posts about my emotions and feelings was what got me through those first few days. Maybe more venting here will help.

3. ‎"We value our Muslim neighbors across the world and hope that those who live by the tenets of their faith will not suffer. I ask particularly that our own people do not become a party in any way to the persecution of the innocent. Rather, let us be friendly and helpful, protective and supportive. It is the terrorist organizations that must be ferreted out and brought down." -Then-LDS Church President Gordon B Hinckley October 7, 2001 (the day the Afghan War started)

4. Even though the Distraction in Iraq is "over," there are still 50,000 of our brave men and women over there. Let's still remember them.

5. Speaking of "over there," the forgotten war is still going in Afghanistan.

6. It's a shame that the only time we seem to think about our brave men and women on the front lines, the firefighters and police officers, is on 9/11.

7. There was a letter to the editor in a recent City Weekly blasting them for sponsoring beer festival today. There was also a tweet from someone I follow blasting the Avenues Street Fair for being held today. However, I can think of no better was of honoring those who died than spending time with our neighbors in our communities.

8.

9. I wonder if the terrorists have won. The purpose of terrorism is to make people afraid, and the people are afraid. And our politicians are all to willing to play on our fear. From "suitcase nukes" to "too big to fail." From "fighting them there instead of fighting them here" to "beheadings in the desert." From "Ground Zero Mosques" to "taking away Seminary."

If You're The GOP Chairman, Re-write History

The GOP meme of Barack Obama being a miracle worker is continuing. Chairman Steele, take it away:

This was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.

What war is he talking about?

Afghanistan, silly.

Because, really, Obama was the Commander-in-Chief when the war started in October 2001.

And we all know that it was Iraq that attacked us the month before, also on Obama's watch.

See the video for yourself:



-Bob

Afghanistan: Longer Than Vietnam

USA Today:

Three months after 9/11, every major Taliban city in Afghanistan had fallen — first Mazar-i-Sharif, then Kabul, finally Kandahar. Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were on the run. It looked as if the war was over, and the Americans and their Afghan allies had won.
Butch Ivie, then a school administrator in Winfield, Ala., remembers, "We thought we'd soon have it tied up in a neat little bag."

But bin Laden and Omar eluded capture. The Taliban regrouped. Today, Kandahar again is up for grabs. And soon, Afghanistan will pass Vietnam as America's longest war.

The Vietnam War's length can be measured in many ways. The formal beginning of U.S. involvement often is dated to Aug. 7, 1964, when Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving the president a virtual carte blanche to wage war. By the time the last U.S. ground combat troops were withdrawn in March 1973, the war had lasted 103 months.

[...]

U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001. On June 7, the war will complete its 104th month. President Obama on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to the war, saying "it is absolutely critical that we dismantle that network of extremists that are willing to attack us."

Wow.

Renounce War, Proclaim Peace

Although many of you have probably already read this on other blogs, I'm reposting it so that you can read it to.

“We renew our declaration that international disputes can and should be settled by peaceful means. That is the way of the Lord.
We call upon the statesman of the world to assume their rightful control of the affairs of nations and to bring this war to an end, honorable and just to all. Animated and led by the spirit of Christ, they can do it. The weeping mothers, the distraught and impoverished wives, the fatherless children of the world, demand this be done. In this way only will enduring peace come; it will never be imposed by armed force. Hate driven militarists and leaders with murder in their hearts, will, if they go though to the end, bring merely another peace that will be but the beginning of another war.
We call upon the Saints the world over to pray to God constantly in faith, nothing doubting, that He will bring His purposes speedily to pass and restore peace again to the earth to bless His children.”

Who was it that said this? Some crazy liberal organization? Surely they must know that we are engaged in a global war between good and evil! Don't they remember that we were attacked?!

In reality, the organization who issued this statement was the First Presidency of the LDS Church in October 1942, less that a year after Pearl Harbor.

-Bob

(Thanks to Centerville Citizen for finding this.)

Romney Gets It Wrong On Iran, Also

I just love it when the Flip Romney campaign posts video of their guy saying ridiculous things.

Take this on Iran:



Blockades? In 2003?

BTW, if Iran had plans for a nuke program in 2003, and Iraq didn't, why again are we in Iraq?

Let's not forget North Korea. They have missiles that can hit Hawaii and possibly California and Vegas, and Nukes. The Nukes have come since 2003.

Mitt Romney: Promising to continue George Bush's failure in the War on Terror

(Well, until he changes his mind...)