H/T - Michael aka "Doc at the Autopsy"
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"...we've broken the grip of al Qaeda on the capital. We've weakened the influence of Iranian backed militias. We've dramatically improved security conditions ..."
-- GW Bush, 3/27/08
"The Civil War in Iraq is over. And until the American domestic political debate catches up with that fact, we are going to have a very hard time discussing Iraq on the basis of reality." -- Fred Kagen, 3/24/08
Less than 24 hours after this statement by Kagan and before Bush's statement above, this came across the wire:
With Iraq's top leaders directing the battle, Iraq's army and national police pressed a major operation Tuesday to wrest control of the southern port city of Basra from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia. Fighting between government forces and the militia quickly spread through Iraq's south and into Baghdad.and...
BAGHDAD — American-trained Iraqi security forces failed for a third straight day to oust Shiite militias from the southern city of Basra on Thursday, even as President Bush hailed the operation as a sign of the growing strength of Iraq’s federal government.Two Americans have been killed and the Green Zone in Iraq is under attack. The level of denial is amazing. Bush is just tap dancing til he can hand his mess over to someone else to deal with.... leaving America in a shitty situation, with a faltering economy and a weakened military.
The fighting in Basra with the Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the political movement led by the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, set off clashes in cities throughout Iraq and major demonstrations in Sadr City, the huge Baghdad neighborhood that is Mr. Sadr’s base of power, and other Shiite neighborhoods in the capital.
Republican Senator and Vietnam Vet Chuck Hagel said it best:
"This is another episode of 'Alice in Wonderland.' ... What do you mean stability and security? Baghdad has been over the last year essentially ethnically divided. You've separated the Sunnis and Shiites. To make some assertion somehow that things are looking much better in Baghdad and it's calm and it's back to where it used to be is just not the case. . . and when you look at the casualties the United States has taken since the so-called military surge, over 900 deaths, you look at 30,000 wounded and the money we've put in there, then the other point of this is if, in fact, the surge has calmed things to a point where the president and others are saying, well, they've done a great service, they've achieved terrific things; why are they talking about keeping more troops in Iraq for the rest of the year? This is still a serious, dangerous situation in Iraq."
5 comments:
Crossposted where?
Referencing, Willy. Learn it, live it, love it.
As an affluent Southerner and white male, it pains me to see our Great President's fully functional strategies in Iraq undermined by liberal bloggers.
Only when Iraqis are fully divided into Shiite and Sunni can faithful Christians bring the Truth and Light to their religion of lies and hatred. Divide and conquer, and in the process be sure to donate money to www.movieguide.org, where my life-partner (and "aggressive Top") Tom Snyder and I will continue to grow rich off fearful ignoramuses.
William:
Just because it's true you don't have to rub doc's nose in it. The fact that his hero combines the attributes of the pre-self-realized Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion (as well as a little bit of Toto and--if Jeff Gannon's presence in the WH is any indicator--a soupcon of Dorothy's charm) should not in any way diminish his blind fealty to an empty suit like G. W. Bush.
Yeah, the "Surge" is going just swell. That's why Fallon had to fall on his sword (I'm guessing that Casey will be next) and Petraeus is coming to D.C. to scare the congress into acquiescing to Bushco's request to let the carnage run on (at least until he's out of office).
George W. Bush is the most reckless president (while personally avoiding danger--except when drunk or high) this country has ever seen. He is an idiot-savant; well, he's half of one, anyway.
Gosh, I hope I'm not crossing some line of political correctness in criticizing the idiot.
democommie
Have you noticed, though, how economic problems here at home have started some folks to just sort of glaze over when it comes, each new horrific statistic comes out of Iraq? It's like they are saying "yeah, I know its there, I know its bad, but could we just talk about something else" -- like how much it cost to at the grocery store this week. Which of course, ignores that it is all part of a common tapestry.
Sue:
Of course the situation in Iraq has nothing whatever to do with our floundering economy, which in turn has nothing to do with Bushco puckering up to plant one on China's keester instead of upbraiding them for their repression of the Tibetans.
I find it amusing that a lot of the same people who say that the trillion + (and counting) spent in Iraq is not a big problem when viewed as a %age of GDP will rail about the cost of welfare, "Headstart" programs or single payer health coverage. I am, however not surprised. These are the same folks who support out troops getting killed in an unneccesarry war, decry abortion while supporting capital punishment and want the government out of their lives--so's they can spend more time spying on the gays and non-KKKristians.
democommie
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