In Iraq, an American contractor, who was also an informant for the FBI, was captured and imprisoned in April: [G]uards arrived at the man’s cell periodically over the next several days, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took him to a padded room for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour or two, he was returned to his … Read More
Eyes Wide Closed; Mouths Open Shut
Well, Condi Rice has rejected the idea of negotiating with Iran and Syria to help bring some stability to Iraq because "neither country should need incentives to foster stability in Iraq." This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why not just talk to them? What’s the downside? Matt Yglesius explains it better: Seriously, people, it’s time to grow up. Sitting … Read More
Milestone
American-led casualties — meaning "dead or wounded" — has surpassed 25,000. See a multi-media presentation about this here.
Who Got It Right, And Why Nobody Should Be Listening To People Who Got It Wrong And Still Think They Are Right
Paul Krugman’s Honor Roll of people who had it right, way back when it mattered and could have made a difference: Former President George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft, explaining in 1998 why they didn’t go on to Baghdad in 1991: “Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a … Read More
Bloody Wednesday
11 U.S. troops killed in one 24-hour period — one of the worst tolls of the Iraq War. Total for this month so far is 30. We’re on track to having it be the worst month ever. Bush’s disapproval rating for handling Iraq soared to 71%, a new record for him. And news today that is hardly surprising: the Saudis … Read More
If Bush Played “Deal Or No Deal”
From Bill in Portland Maine: Howie: Mr. President, you have picked every case in numerical order from one through 23. Each successive case you chose contained the highest dollar amount on the board. And every time the banker offered you a deal you shouted… Bush: No deal! Stay the course! HehHehHeh! Howie: So now we’re down to three cases. The … Read More
Questions, Questions, Questions
Bill Bennett reads the Iraq Study Group Report and feels that the commissioners of the group are "smug, arrogant, insufferable", presumably because they didn’t give a wholehearted endorsement to everything happening in Iraq. In the midst of his rant, the smug, arrogant and insufferable Bill Bennett poses the following question: Who are these commissioners and what is their expertise in … Read More
The ISG Report
It came out today, and everyone with more time on their hands than me at the moment is writing about it. As expected, it contains no "silver bullet" for fixing the Iraq Mess, but it is (from what I understand) pretty candid that things are NOT going swimmingly (which everyone seems to already know, save the occupants of the White … Read More
Reality Rears Its Head
Secretary of Defense nominee Gates, just a short while ago at his confirmation hearings, was asked if he thought we were winning in Iraq: "No, sir" Think Progress has the video, and they remind us: Just weeks ago, President Bush expressed the opposite position. From 10/25/06: REPORTER: Are we winning? PRESIDENT BUSH: Absolutely, we’re winning.
The Rumsfeld Memo
As you probably know by now, just days before he got the heave-ho, Rumsfeld penned a memo to Bush suggesting alternative approaches to Iraq. The New York Times got a hold of it, and printed it on Saturday. What is remarkable (to me) about the memo is how amazing facile it is. It’s a menu of not-well-thought-out-options, lacking any specific … Read More
Blame America First
"How did things get so FUBAR in Iraq? It’s not Bush, Cheney, or Rumsfeld’s fault. It’s the American people’s who stabbed Bush in the back." Josh Marshall has enlightening pieces on this new meme emerging from the political right. He’s quite correct. Three years ago, the American people were largely in favor of invading Iraq. This included many on the … Read More
U.S. Involved In Iraq Longer Than WWII
As of Saturday.
How Stupid Is John Hinderaker?
Unbelievably stupid. Listen as he (once again) tries to claim that the violence in Iraq is not that bad. Let’s start with his conclusion — the last two paragraphs of his post: I wrote in June that based on the data at that time, the murder rate in Iraq outside of Baghdad is about the same as American cities like … Read More
Iraqis Want America Out
PIPA has released a new poll of Iraqi attitudes toward the U.S. occupation. There’s no doubt about what they want: they want us to leave. 74% of Shiites want us to leave within a year or less 91% of Sunnis want us to leave within a year or less. 78% of all Iraqis believe U.S. forces are provoking more violence … Read More
No Magic Bullet In Iraq
Of late, there seems to be more willingness on the part of, well, everybody, to admit that the Iraq War is unwinnable, and indeed, it may already be lost. Even Kissinger put his toe in that pool. It strikes me that there is, too, that there is no way to "win" in Iraq (in part because nobody has bothered to … Read More