Article Launched: 3/26/2006 12:06 AM 'Unit's' military expert has fighting words for Bush By David Kronke, TV Critic U-Entertainment Eric Haney, a retired command sergeant major of the U.S. Army, was a founding member of Delta Force, the military's elite covert counter-terrorist unit. He culled his experiences for "Inside Delta Force" (Delta; $14), a memoir rich with harrowing stories, though in an interview, Haney declines with a shrug to estimate the number of times he was almost killed. (Perhaps the most high-profile incident that almost claimed his life was the 1980 failed rescue of the hostages in Iran.) Today, he's doing nothing nearly as dangerous: He serves as an executive producer and technical adviser for "The Unit," CBS' new hit drama based on his book, developed by playwright David Mamet. Even up against "American Idol," "The Unit" shows muscle, drawing 18 million viewers in its first two airings. Since he has devoted his life to protecting his country in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots, you might assume Haney is sympathetic to the Bush administration's current plight in Iraq (the laudatory cover blurb on his book comes from none other than Fox's News' Bill O'Reilly). But he's also someone with close ties to the Pentagon, so he's privy to information denied the rest of us. We recently spoke to Haney, an amiable, soft-spoken Southern gentleman, on the set of "The Unit." Q: What's your assessment of the war in Iraq? A: Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first. The reasons were wrong. The reasons of this administration for taking this nation to war were not what they stated. (Army Gen.) Tommy Franks was brow-beaten and ... pursued warfare that he knew strategically was wrong in the long term. That's why he retired immediately afterward. His own staff could tell him what was going to happen afterward. We have fomented civil war in Iraq. We have probably fomented internecine war in the Muslim world between the Shias and the Sunnis, and I think Bush may well have started the third world war, all for their own personal policies. Q: What is the cost to our country? A: For the first thing, our credibility is utterly zero. So we destroyed whatever credibility we had. ... And I say "we," because the American public went along with this. They voted for a second Bush administration out of fear, so fear is what they're going to have from now on. Our military is completely consumed, so were there a real threat - thankfully, there is no real threat to the U.S. in the world, but were there one, we couldn't confront it. Right now, that may not be a bad thing, because that keeps Bush from trying something with Iran or with Venezuela. The harm that has been done is irreparable. There are more than 2,000 American kids that have been killed. Tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed ñ which no one in the U.S. really cares about those people, do they? I never hear anybody lament that fact. It has been a horror, and this administration has worked overtime to divert the American public's attention from it. Their lies are coming home to roost now, and it's gonna fall apart. But somebody's gonna have to clear up the aftermath and the harm that it's done just to what America stands for. It may be two or three generations in repairing. Q: What do you make of the torture debate? Cheney ... A: (Interrupting) That's Cheney's pursuit. The only reason anyone tortures is because they like to do it. It's about vengeance, it's about revenge, or it's about cover-up. You don't gain intelligence that way. Everyone in the world knows that. It's worse than small-minded, and look what it does. I've argued this on Bill O'Reilly and other Fox News shows. I ask, who would you want to pay to be a torturer? Do you want someone that the American public pays to torture? He's an employee of yours. It's worse than ridiculous. It's criminal; it's utterly criminal. This administration has been masters of diverting attention away from real issues and debating the silly. Debating what constitutes torture: Mistreatment of helpless people in your power is torture, period. And (I'm saying this as) a man who has been involved in the most pointed of our activities. I know it, and all of my mates know it. You don't do it. It's an act of cowardice. I hear apologists for torture say, "Well, they do it to us." Which is a ludicrous argument. ... The Saddam Husseins of the world are not our teachers. Christ almighty, we wrote a Constitution saying what's legal and what we believed in. Now we're going to throw it away. Q: As someone who repeatedly put your life on the line, did some of the most hair-raising things to protect your country, and to see your country behave this way, that must be ... A: It's pretty galling. But ultimately I believe in the good and the decency of the American people, and they're starting to see what's happening and the lies that have been told. We're seeing this current house of cards start to flutter away. The American people come around. They always do.
There was an estimated crowd of 500,000 demonstrators in Los Angeles but one demonstrater said that there might have been a million.... and got quoted by a TV reporter!! The Delta Force guy is that demonstrator I am thiniking, and by golly, his opinion is definitely what we pay for it.
I'll just keep on saying this, quietly. Since 9/11, the current US government has methodically thrown in the garbage can the very values and ideals that made America the greatest nation on earth. It is a pitiful irony that the real damage to America was not the abortion in NYC. Is it possible that OBL knew that this would happen, that he somehow figured out that the best way to fight freedom of expression and thought and action was to initiate the rot within the Great Oppressor itself? Imagine what would have happened if the U.S. has spent the same money demolishing actual terrorist cells and perps as it has spent in Iraq. It would be impossible to spend it all, because such efforts could be funded for the next 50 years on the money that has been wasted in Iraq. A brave few on the right and left asked why the US was mobilizing this huge force to do a job that could have been done by a small strike force.The emergence of Iran as the real threat, ideologically speaking, is predictable to everyone who asked questions when the 'war in Iraq' was first advertised. We hear that the 'war' in Iraq is now being fought against 'insurgents'. What a sick fucking joke this is for those of us who wanted the U.S. to lead the war against terrorism. 95% of these 'insurgents' are young men who would never have engaged the U.S. had the army not shown up in their neighbourhood. The battle in Iraq now is for control over the country by factions within the country. And why not - there is huge wealth and power to be had by those who grasp the reins. The U.S. are unwanted occupiers and that's why young Americans are dying over there. I'll say again - you cannot take a huge template marked 'Democracy and smash it down onto a country and make it democratic. Could it be that the minds behind this whole effort didn't know that? The answer is no - it's not possible. The question then arises - why in the hell did they decide to pursue this 'war'? The answers are all sickening, no matter which one you believe in. Last thing I will say is this - the real right wingers on here are now waking up to the facts and I am seeing fewer and fewer attempts at defending this 'war'. I know that a lot of neocons on here felt the need to defend the government on patriotic grounds, but the ground is now moving beneath their feet and they are sensing the fall. A lot of lefty types cried that 'the war is just an oil grab'. It should be clear by now that the U.S. can't 'grab' Iraqi oil. It wouldn't matter if GWB sent Jeb over to be president of the country; the ways of power in these countries is not the same as it is here and America would still be unable to control Iraqi oil. Will these countries eventually drift towards democracy? Probably. In this century? Probably not. Democracy is pretty young, after all. The Communist Party of China has a new directive - did you hear about it? Here it is. This is the official party line. "It's glorious to be rich"!! This doesn't imply democracy, though... does it.