"I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler." – Jon Stewart
Posted in Blog Post on Dec 17th, 2007
In two recent post Glenn nails it. The first What “winning” in Iraq looks like hits on what’s happened in Basra since the British abandoned it: The article details that Shiite militias — which British troops “unintentionally” armed for years by failing to realize that the “security forces” had no allegiance to the central government [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Dec 7th, 2007
Cheney: Iraq to be self-governing by 2009 – Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris – Politico.com Vice President Cheney today predicted Iraq will be a self-governing democracy by the time he leaves office, calling the current U.S. surge strategy “a remarkable success story” that will be studied for years to come. A [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Dec 4th, 2007
Crooks and Liars » John McCain: There are No Thomas Jeffersons in Iraq Does McCain know that the internets keep everything he’s said? He claims that he’s always thought the Bush/Rumsfeld was a failure despite many, many statements of support for the Iraq policy in the nearly five years this disaster has stumbled along.
Posted in Blog Post on Nov 13th, 2007
‘Hidden Costs’ Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say – washingtonpost.com Did $1.5 trillion get us more secure? Buy an awe-inspiring display of American military might? Cheaper oil? A sound dollar? Exactly what did we purchase for so high a price? A generation of hatred? Worldwide disdain? A near total loss of moral authority on [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 5th, 2007
Rice Says U.S. Will Review Aid To Pakistan – washingtonpost.com Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the United States would review its $150 million-a-month assistance program to Pakistan in response to the declaration of emergency rule by the president, Gen. Pervez Mushar. Pakistan has long been a safe harbor for terrorists in the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 25th, 2007
I can’t see how we will ever succeed using these tactics. Glenn Greenwald – Political Blogs and Opinions – Salon Monday, the Pentagon acknowledged a long-unspoken truth: that the bombardment of civilian neighborhoods in Iraq is an integral part of the vaunted “counterinsurgency” doctrine of Gen. David Petraeus. The number of airstrikes in the conquered [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Oct 14th, 2007
A few excerpts from Frank Rich at the Times: The ‘Good Germans’ Among Us – New York Times …As Andrew Sullivan, once a Bush cheerleader, observed last weekend in The Sunday Times of London, America’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques have a grotesque provenance: “Verschärfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 11th, 2007
U.S. Pays Steep Price for Private Security in Iraq – washingtonpost.com We pay more for a rent-a-grunt foot soldier then we do for Gen Patraeus. We get less accountablity, but what the heck who’s really coutning the deaths over over-paid mercenaries? Muuuuch easier than asking Congress for the necessary manpower for the military. Man are [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Oct 3rd, 2007
From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths – New York Times Interviews with 12 Iraqi witnesses, several Iraqi investigators and an American official familiar with an American investigation of the shootings offer new insights into the gravity of the episode in Nisour Square. And they are difficult to square with [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 2nd, 2007
House Passes Bill on Pullout – washingtonpost.com “I think this bill is the crucial fulcrum, the key, the tipping point for pulling out of Iraq,” A bit of convenient bipartisan comity a tipping point does not make. The true measure is how long it takes the wingnut noise machine to completely freak out.
Posted in Uncategorized on Oct 2nd, 2007
What do we get for the additional expense? Maybe some generous GOP campaign contributions and political cover for non-military casualties, but no added value for actually getting things done on the ground in Iraq. The time as come for real accountability for mercenaries either under UCMJ or civilian law. Blackwater Chief Defends Guards’ Actions in [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 29th, 2007
Ezra Klein: Lieberman Helps Destabilize Iraq Take a look. Ezra argues that as long as we antagonize Iran and use bellicosity instead of reasonable diplomacy, Iran has no incentive to help in Iraq. Once Iraq is secure, guess which country is next on the Bush-Chenney hit list?
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 29th, 2007
TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Webb, McCaskill Seek Commission on Military Contracts What took so long to do this? There’s only $6 billion under criminal investigation. I guess it made more sense to piss off a broad swath of the voting public than it did to actually exercise genuine oversight in the corruption ridden [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Sep 28th, 2007
Informed Comment: Birk: Sectarian Numbers in Iraq What I take a away from the post is that the Defense Dept has been manipulating data to create an illusion of progress. The methodology and terminology changes between progress reports making it impossible to find clear trends. Your tax dollars are hard at work in an effort [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Sep 28th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 26th, 2007
The plan is mostly likely to stonewall any real attempts at oversight until the end of the Bush administration. I think that once the true extent of corruption and incompetence vis a vis Iraq is revealed it will boggle the imagination. The GOP can’t have this public before the election. Lawmaker says Rice interfered with [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 18th, 2007
Lessons on the surge from economics 101: Rutland Herald Online Economics professors have a standard game they use to demonstrate how apparently rational decisions can create a disastrous result. They call it a “dollar auction.” The rules are simple. The professor offers a dollar for sale to the highest bidder, with only one wrinkle: the [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Sep 17th, 2007
I just took a look at Fred Kaplan’s blistering critique of the President’s speech Thursday. I did not watch the speech because I felt it was a waste of time and it would be the same tired rhetoric I’ve heard many times. It seems it was, only this time reality on the ground has diverged [...]
Posted in Blog Post on Sep 14th, 2007
Bush Tells Nation He Will Begin to Roll Back ‘Surge’ – washingtonpost.com Sometime ago I mused about the prospect of the Bush administration simply declaring victory, regardless of conditions on the ground, and starting a pullback of American forces. Well, we got part of it. He touts the “success” of the surge as justification for [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 10th, 2007
Soooo, we’re to wait one more Friedman unit before making any decisions about troop levels. I wonder if that’s actually sustainable. Kinda takes the fun out of the Dog and Pony show. We’ll get some pretty charts and rosy anecdotes of progress, but no underlying data, or even methodologies as it’s classified. Delay Decision on [...]
Date: 07/30/2006