My Congressman, Neocon Wannabe Silvestre Reyes, Royally Sucks

First, some background about Reyes that I posted at the Court TV "Politics" forums, then other postings from a message board here in El Paso

I'm beginning to intensely dislike Silvestre Reyes, I cannot stand him for the most part-In our local elections here, he backstabbed one of the best, progressive state legislators, Elliot Shapleigh

Shapleigh's GOP opponent ran an incredibly negative campaign, and claimed he had Reyes backing-an allegation Reyes did nothing to dispute

The reason Shapleigh's so popular here is that in 1994, along with other attorneys-which was his livelihood at the time-he helped launch an investigation into how badly the state of Texas had been shortchanging El Paso of hundreds of millions of dollars over decades

At times, Reyes does the right thing, at other times, he really sticks it to the people living here, as El Paso is not a rich community, and Reyes voted for that obscenity known as the Bankruptcy Bill, one of the most blatant payoffs to one industry in our country's political history

In spite of Reyes not backing Shapleigh in the last election, and in spite of the fact that the GOP opponent outspent Shapleigh massivley, Elliot won his reelection campaign for state Senator

That's the other thing, Reyes opponent, a Libertarian, garnered a huge amount of votes, even without being able to spend much money-I voted for him, as did a large number of voters in the bluest part of Texas

And now, turns out Reyes is starting to spout the neocon party line, and like he did with Eliot Shapleigh, Reyes enjoys backstabbing Dems who have been enormously helpful to him politically

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16062351/site/newsweek/

In a surprise twist in the debate over Iraq, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the soon-to-be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he wants to see an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops as part of a stepped up effort to “dismantle the militias.”The soft-spoken Texas Democrat was an early opponent of the Iraq war and voted against the October 2002 resolution authorizing President Bush to invade that country. That dovish record got prominently cited last week when Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi chose Reyes as the new head of the intelligence panel.

But in an interview with NEWSWEEK on Tuesday, Reyes pointedly distanced himself from many of his Democratic colleagues who have called for fixed timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Now Reyes says he was clear and upfront with Pelosi, but nowhere in his comments was there any mention of INCREASING US Troops in Iraq

But when asked what he told Pelosi about his thinking on Iraq, Reyes replied: “What I said was, we can’t afford to leave there. And anybody who says, we are going pull out our troops immediately, is being dishonest … We’re all interested in getting out of Iraq. That’s a common goal. How we do it, I think, is the tough part. There are those that say, they don’t care what Iraq looks like once we leave there. Let’s just leave there. And I argue against that. I don’t think that’s responsible. And I think it plays right into the hands of Syria and Iran.”

And yes, Reyes will now be lauded by the neocons, those who have been absolutely wrong about EVERY single aspect of occupying Iraq, as shown by this quote

Yet one prominent Iraq war supporter, Cliff May, the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy who served on an advisory panel that worked with the Baker-Hamilton group, said he was stunned and pleasantly surprised by Reyes’s views. “Wow, that’s remarkable,” May replied when NEWSWEEK told him of Reyes’s comments. “Whenever anybody like myself suggests that we need more troops, we get told that it’s not politically feasible. But if you have a leading Democrat saying it, that strikes me as very significant … I think it’s dawning on a lot of people that the price of a U.S. defeat would be dire.”

So, why is Reyes working so hard to screw the Dems and suck up to the GOP and our ChickenHawk President?

Even better questions

Just where does Reyes expect to logically find an additional 20,000 to 30,000 troops to bolster the US deployment in Iraq?

The first response that leaps to mind would be drawing even more heavily on an already overtaxed National Guard & Reserves, but those entities are already at the breaking point as it is

And what happens if the temporary deployment does NOT succeed in quelling the carnage before they have to be withdrawn?

I think McGovern gets it dead on target with this quote

Reyes’s comments were immediately blasted by one Iraq war critic who expressed concerns that they would give new respectability to an idea that has lost considerable support in official Washington as the violence in Iraq has escalated. “I think he [Reyes] needs a course in Insurgency 101,” said Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst who has been active in an antiwar group called the Steering Group for Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. “Have they learned nothing from Vietnam? If he pushes this and gets some support for it, and with McCain in the Senate, it could become more respectable … I think Reyes has got a lot to learn.”

Reyes is becoming more conniving by the day, it appears he wants to be the House version of GOP Wannabe Lackey Joe Lieberman

Reyes was given the HIC chairmanship because he promised to be vigilant in pushing for badly needed oversight of W's warrantless spying program, and those CIA "Black Prisons", but I'm getting the feeling that Reyes words are hollow and insincere

Reyes is also the Dem who voted to really stick it to consumers with the Bankruptcy overhaul passed at the behest of the consumer credit industry, which means he's backstabbing his own constituents in the back who have to declare bankruptcy due to serious health problems or job loss

For whatever reason, Reyes now views the US troops as the same kind of cannon fodder as W does

Adding 20,000 to 30,000 troops will NOT accomplish anything, except to get more US troops killed, maimed, wounded and traumatized

Anything less than a complete pullout of US troops at this point-as quickly as possible as logistics would logically allow-means nothing but a total waste of further lives, limbs, blood, physical equipment and financial resources

Reyes knows there's not going to be a successful or face-saving way for W to exit Iraq, Reyes knows this means squandering even more lives, limbs, minds & treasure, and apparently, Reyes is just fine with such carnage, and like W, I doubt Reyes will lose any sleep over the pain, misery and anguish staying in Iraq is sure to bring the US troops, their friends & families and the Iraqi citizens themselves

We need dems with spine to hold this President accountable for lying us into a totally unnecessary war, not milquetoasts who'd rather go along to get along when it comes to strong oversight of the absolute worst President in US history