President Passes The Buck On Iraq

(CBS)  This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
When Tommy Franks retired as the general who won the war in Iraq, he wrote a best-selling book and went on the speakers' circuit. He stood in the White House and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He'd appear in front of crowds and say, "Ain't this a great country," and crowds would whoop and cheer.

I wonder if Gen. Franks was watching President Bush's news conference Thursday. The president didn't hesitate to blame Franks for mistakes made in Iraq. He said, "My primary question to Gen. Franks was 'Do you have what it takes to succeed, and do you have what it takes after you succeed in removing Saddam Hussein,' and his answer was, 'Yeah.'"

Hearing that yesterday, I was stunned. I'm pretty sure I heard the Commander in Chief passing the buck. It sounded to me like he was saying, "We'd have done better; I just got bad advice."

Who else is on that list? Donald Rumsfeld? Dick Cheney? I wonder.

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Harry's daily commentary can be heard on many CBS Radio News affiliates across the country.


By Harry Smith

[warsick]

Hey Harry, Why don't you be the Edward R. Murrow of our time and write your own "Report on the Iraq War". Quit being an annoying little dog, nipping at the heels of our poor, haggard, figurehead, President Bush. Be a man. Tell the whole truth; explain in detail how we've been royally decieved by EVERYONE in power on so many levels that it makes you dizzy sick to think about. Stand up to your bosses. Forget about that Oil and Auto advertising revenue and tell the people like it really is. Who knows, they may not brand you a nut and blacklist you. It could go the other way. You might be remembered as the first of many in the mainstream media who spoke the truth and changed the course of history. The veil of deception that has obscured this war is now starting to slip away; be the one who yanks it completely off, revealing the abominable lies that is the root of this war. Walter and Edward will go down in history for doing it years ago. Somebody has to do it now. Why not you?

[warsick]

This administration will say anything to keep our troops in Iraq till the mission is truly accomplished. This includes the "in 6 more months we will know" routine, blaming failure on everyone but the administration and its current policy, and the redefinition of our mission.
You don't have to be a cynic, a liberal, a terrorist, or a genius to figure out that real success in Iraq is the steady, secure, and profitable, movement of Iraqi oil into western refineries. We will shed all the treasure and blood necessary to ensure that the Iranians, Chinese, and others eastward do not get their hands on this oil. This "stand in the sand" for oil might be a worthy enterprise; I am not qualified to be the judge. What is plain wrong is the inability of anyone who has the ear of the public to mention Oil and Iraq in the same sentence. Why don't you in the media strap on some balls and ask these basic questions:
1. Who is guarding the Iraqi oil fields? Why don't we ever hear about them being attacked?
2. Why was Halliburton given a no bid contract to develop an oil field security plan for Iraq long before the invasion, when no similar strategic planning was paid for from outside experts prior to the war?
3. Why are the Basra Oilfield Workers repeated strikes and desperate calls for help against the Halliburton takeover of sovereign Iraqi oil infrastructure not covered by the US press (go to: www.basraoilunion.org)?

Wake up America!!