Cheney on Iraq: Now ‘It’s Game Time’

From Think Progress:

Think Progress » Cheney: ‘It’s game time’ in Iraq. : Vice President Cheney today made an unannounced stop in Baghdad, his second visit to Iraq as vice president. The Swamp reports on his “message” there:

The vice president’s message boils down to this, according to the official speaking on condition of anonymity: “We’ve all got challenges together. We’ve got to pull together. We’ve got to get this work done. It’s game time.“

As Hotline’s Wake-Up Call notes, evidently this means “the last four years have just been a scrimmage.”

Comments

[save_the_rustbelt]

I would be really upset if one of my kids died for a "scrimmage."

[spencer]

Maybe that explains why they have not been acting seriously about trying to win.

[AP]

"Mulligan!"

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/asia/09afghan.html?ex=1336363200&en=89414e75b3252176&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

May 9, 2007

U.S. Pays and Apologizes to Kin of Afghans Killed
By DAVID S. CLOUD

WASHINGTON — An Army commander apologized and paid compensation on Tuesday to families of Afghan civilians killed by marines after a suicide attack in March, in the first formal acknowledgment by the American authorities that the killings were unjustified.

Col. John Nicholson, an Army brigade commander in eastern Afghanistan, met Tuesday with the families of the 19 Afghans killed and 50 wounded when a Marine Special Operations unit opened fire on a crowded stretch of road near Jalalabad after a suicide bomber in a vehicle rammed their convoy.

"I stand before you today, deeply, deeply ashamed and terribly sorry that Americans have killed and wounded innocent Afghan people," Colonel Nicholson said, recounting to reporters the words he had used in the meetings. In a videoconference to reporters at the Pentagon, he added, "We made official apologies on the part of the U.S. government" and paid $2,000 for each death.

The incident is already the subject of a criminal investigation by the Pentagon. But the decision to issue a public apology now reflects the military's growing concern that recent civilian casualties have led to widespread ill will among Afghans and could jeopardize military operations....

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/world/asia/10afghan.html

May 10, 2007

Afghans Say U.S. Airstrikes Killed 21 Civilians
By CARLOTTA GALL and DAVID S. CLOUD

HERAT, Afghanistan — Afghan officials said Wednesday that airstrikes called in by American Special Forces against Taliban fighters in Helmand Province had killed 21 civilians, the latest in a series of claims of noncombatant casualties that have strained relations with the Afghan government.

American military officials said they could not confirm that civilians had died in the fighting, a 16-hour battle that took place Tuesday at a village called Sarban Qala, near Sangin in Helmand Province.

But the governor of Helmand and the local administrator said civilians were killed, among them women and children, when their houses were bombed. "Twenty-one civilians were killed due to aerial bombardment," said Ezatullah, the district chief of Sangin, who uses only one name, in a telephone interview.

The newest report of civilian casualties came a day after an American officer formally apologized and made compensation payments for civilians who were killed by a Marine Special Operations unit that started a series of attacks along a 10-mile stretch of highway near Jalalabad in March after a suicide bomber in a vehicle rammed their convoy. The attacks killed 19 Afghans and wounded 50 more and led to riots....

[Moloch-Agonistes]

Cheney embodies everything I disagree with, but in this case his critics have missed the colloqialism. "Game time" in American sports lingo refers to the last few plays, representing a team's last shot to come from behind. He's not saying the last four years were a "scrimmage," he's saying that if this batter strikes out, the team has lost.

[anne]

Me, I do not care for any particular metaphor. We waged war unnecessarily and unjustly, driven by fear and deception. The occupation was worse, for there is no conceivable justification for the military occupation of a country with which we were not at war, by which we were not threated and of which we had deposed the government. Essentially we become colonialists, and there was no justification for colonizing Iraq though every possible justification was given.

We are occupying Iraq and waging war unnecessarily and unjustly and should leave immediately as we should have left every month these last 4 tragic lunatic years.

[anne]

Tens of thousands of American soldiers have been wounded; by last October more than 100,000 returned soldiers had been granted various forms of disability status; 17.8% of returned soldiers have had a traumatic brain injury, while time served in Iraq has been lengthened.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, tens of thousands in excess more have died in the social structure decay.

Who can ever know the moral destruction of an unjust war.

[anne]

The direct material cost of the war in and occupation of Iraq is $754 billion through fiscal 2007. We were spending $8 billion a month in fiscal 2005, while we are spending more than $15.8 billion a month now. The cost of the war and occupation in all will fly over $2 trillion. Imagine the waste, the destruction represented, and imagine what might have been.

[StlInquirer]

I think Moloch-Agonistes is incorrect - crunch time refers to the last few plays, representing a team's last shot to come from behind. Game time - means its time to get serious because the game has started. So what he's saying is that hey, we've just been doing our warm-ups - you know, stretching, goofing around, playing a little pepper. But, now, well, we're actually going to start the game. Stunningly stupid analogy - it's like the Milwaukee Brewers, in referring to the 1982 World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly went - oh, we're serious now (never mind the lost World Series and the intervening three decades worth of futility). And, of course, the saddest thing is that, giving the Brewers recent performance, their statement as infinitely wrong as it would be, would still be light years more accurate than Cheney's. Sheesh.

[Moloch-Agonistes]

Inquirer: you're misinformed. Take it to Rick Rizzs, who at this very moment just announced the Mariners' batter with two outs in the ninth inning, down five: "It's game time."

[LB]

These are from the Urban Dictionary. Notice they're all quite old.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=game+time

1. game time
11 up, 1 down

When "it" is "on". A battle cry yelled when the time for action has come

Guy1:lets go to Burger King
Guy2:Game Time!!!
by consentual? Mar 13, 2005

And for Game On:

1. Game On
7 up, 3 down

1. A phrase said between people before a competitive event. Usually followed by Giving Skin.
2. A British comedy much loved by many people.

1. You're going down. Game On.
2. "Help! I've got my knob stuck in the vacuum."
by Kip Stevens Apr 22, 2004

[Tangurena]

>We’ve got to pull together. We’ve got to get this work done. It’s game time.

By using a distinctly American phrase, the VP is (inadvertantly?) showing that the audience of his message is America, and no one else. The Iraqis are just a prop in his performance.

Cheney is still going around the country claiming that OBL and Saddam were working together. So his performance art on stage isn't intended to be taken seriously at all.

[Dave]

It might be more convincing if Cheney stuck around and helped out with the "surge" -- after all, I hear he's pretty handy with a shotgun...

[anne]

Also, I am grateful that Congressional Democrats are pressuring the President on the occupation of Iraq. This is an extremely hopeful episode and will help to right the balance between the Congree and the President on war-making powers for many years to come.

[FreakyBeaky]

Rick Rizzs is either wrong, or he meant Crunch Time. Calling 'Crunch Time' 'Game Time' doesn't make any sense. Ask Chick Hearn.

[christofay]

Yes, it's Crunch Time in the play-offs. Sadly Cheney showed he wasn't the go to guy passing on assuming an on-site War Czar position. The Iranian New Year's munitions in Iraq were dated in an American readable format.

[christofay]

It's Game Time would be for the Democratic majority in the House. But we're already in early innings.

[Moloch-Agonistes]

Freaky, et al.: "Crunch time" is the basketball idiom. "Game time" is the baseball idiom. General rule: if you're not certain, you should probably zip it. Rick Rissz and 30 other professional baseball announcers probably know what they're talking about.