Everyone's A Phony

If this keeps up, Rush Limbaugh is going to be a modern-day Holden Caulfield, muttering to himself about phonies as he walks the streets.

The Marines want out of Iraq:

The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.

The idea by the Marine Corps commandant would effectively leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army while giving the Marines a prominent new role in Afghanistan, under overall NATO command.

(This sounds to me like the various units of the Armed Forces not wanting to associate themselves with the mess of Iraq.)

And then there's Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of US forces in Iraq, slamming the Administration and the war:

In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration’s handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.” (he got that from the movie -ed.) [...]

“After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism,” Mr. Sanchez said, at a gathering here of military reporters and editors.

General Sanchez is the most senior in a string of retired generals to harshly criticize the administration’s conduct of the war. Asked following his remarks why he waited nearly a year after his retirement to outline his views, he responded that that it was not the place of active duty officers to challenge lawful orders from civilian authorities. General Sanchez, who is said to be considering a book, promised further public statements criticizing officials by name.

“There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding later in his remarks that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”

It's true, about active duty officers being unable to speak out. But when you see one retired general after another condemning the invasion and occupation of Iraq, when you see some generals retiring JUST to condemn the invasion and occupation of Iraq, you can be pretty sure that the commanders don't find the policy popular. In this way, they mirror the American people.

Or, to Rush, the phony Americans.