A Spork in the Drawer

There He Goes Again

Vice-President Fourth Branch:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

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Five Years

Vietnam War--August, 1964 to January, 1973 = 101 months*

American Revolution--April, 1775 to September, 1783 = 100 months

Afghanistan-- October, 2001 to Present (as of March, 2008) = 77 months

Iraq War--March, 2003 to Present (as of March, 2008) = 60 months

U.S. Civil War--April, 1861 to April, 1865 = 48 months

World War II--December, 1941 to September, 1945 = 45 months

World War I--April, 1917 to November, 1918 = 19 months

Korean War-- June, 1950 to July, 1953 = 37 months

War of 1812--June, 1812 to February, 1815 = 32 months

U.S.-Mexican War-- May, 1846 to February, 1848 = 21 months

Spanish-American War--April, 1898 to August, 1898 = 5 months

Gulf War--January, 1991 to March, 1991 = 3 months

*Us involvement began in the late 1950's and lasted until 1975. I'm measuring from the introduction of ground troops to their withdrawal.

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Fine

Dick:

The United States intends to complete its mission in Iraq and will not allow the country to become a staging ground for terrorist attacks on Americans, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday.

Now tell me what the "mission" is.

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(shhhhh...secret!)

(john mccain is in Iraq but it's a secret. shhhhh!)








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No Surprise

Because, so far as the "news" media is concerned, Iraq doesn't matter anymore nobody should be shocked by this:

Twenty-eight percent of the public is aware that nearly 4,000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq over the past five years, while nearly half thinks the death tally is 3,000 or fewer and 23 percent think it is higher, according to an opinion survey released yesterday.

[...]

Related Pew surveys have found that the number of news stories devoted to the war has sharply declined this year, along with professed public interest. "Coverage of the war has been virtually absent," said Pew survey research director Scott Keeter, totaling about 1 percent of the news hole between Feb. 17 and 23.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Korea has long been called the "Forgotten War." It appears that that title belongs now to our current war.

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DeFib Dick Sickens Troops

Dick's old Halliburton subsidiary KBR has been giving bad water to our troops in Iraq:

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

[...]

It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests."

"Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water," the report said.

It should go without saying that KBR is as pure as the driven snow:

KBR said its water treatment "has met or exceeded all applicable military and contract standards." The company took exception to many of the inspector general's assertions. "KBR's commitment to the safety of all of its employees remains unwavering," the company said in a statement to the AP.

KBR is a former subsidiary of Halliburton Co., the oil services conglomerate that Cheney once led.

If he can't get them shot or blown up Dick'll just give the troops skin infections.

But his bank balance remains healthy.

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Asinine Quote Of The Day

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Closet):

The truth is that political reconciliation in Iraq is going better there than it is here at home because of better security.

How does one even address that?

Video at link.

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Remember Iraq?

The "government" in Baghdad is unhappy with the Turkish invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan:

"The cabinet expressed its rejection and condemnation for the Turkish military interference, which is considered a violation of Iraq's sovereignty," the Iraqi government said in a statement released by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

"The cabinet stresses that unilateral military action is not acceptable and threatens good relations between the two neighbors."

Iraq "sovereign"? Yes, of course. Just ask the BushCheney administration:

In Washington, the Bush administration left no doubt of its overall support for the Turkish operation to deal with the Kurdistan Worker's Party, commonly known as the PKK, which both the Bush administration and Europe consider to be a terrorist organization.

So much for the propaganda about sovereignty.

And the award for Stupid Comment of the Day™ goes to Dana "Don't Know Much About History" Perino:

"It's obviously not an ideal situation," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Indeed, Dana, indeed.

Meanwhile, so much for troop reductions:

The United States expects to have 140,000 troops in Iraq in July after withdrawing five combat brigades, leaving a force larger than before it began pouring in troops last year, the Pentagon said on Monday.

One can't help but smile at this golden oldie from before the war and occupation:

We don't talk about deployments in the specific, but we have brought a good many Guard and Reserve on active duty. Fortunately, a great many of them were volunteers. We have been able to have relatively few stop losses. There are some currently, particularly in the Army, but relatively few in the Navy and the Air Force. And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

Now we're just hoping to outlast the next eleven months.

Heckuva job, Georgie.

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Wheeeee!

Meanwhile:

Turkish troops launched a ground incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, the military said Friday — a move that dramatically escalates Turkey's conflict with the militants.

It is the first confirmed ground operation by the Turkish military into Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. It also raised concerns that it could trigger a wider conflict with the U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds, despite Turkey's assurances that its only target was the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

[...]

"The United States continues to support Turkey's right to defend itself from the terrorist activities of the PKK and has encouraged Turkey to use all available means, to include diplomacy and close coordination with the Government of Iraq to ultimately resolve this issue," he added.

I'm sure glad that the war over there is over!

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Son Of Wednesday Boot

Our old pal Max Boot is back on the pages of the LATimes, if only for a one-shot. Today, (yesterday, actually) Max comes to praise St. John not bury him. But first, Max gives us a setup:

Some conservatives are having conniptions over the rise of John McCain as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Personally, I am less interested in what Rush Limbaugh, Tom DeLay or Ann Coulter think than I am in the views of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar Assad and Kim Jong Il.

Max goes on to suggest we should call this terrible trio the new "axis of evil" but with Syria replacing that blooming democracy known as Iraq. And indeed, after explaining all the naughty things those naughty axis-of-evilers are doing, Max turns to the naughty things they are doing in Iraq - after mentioning, of course, just what a swell place that benighted country has become. But Max allows his sunny outlook to be polluted by some dissonance:

Clearly, these rogue regimes do not fear the consequences of waging a proxy war on America and our allies. They think they can get away with killing and maiming American soldiers -- and so far they have been right.

President Bush has not done enough to back up his threats against Iran and Syria, beyond pushing for economic sanctions of limited value at a time when oil is hitting $100 a barrel. The president has refused to authorize even limited special operations strikes on jihadist networks inside Syria or Iran.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Max calling for acts of war in that last sentence? Why yes, yes he is. But first:

This is part of a larger trend of Bush combining strong words with weak actions.

Noconservatism cannot fail, it can only be failed. And the failure, friends, is George W. Bush. This make Max sad and he's now forced to find someone new, someone who will fulfill his war fantasies:

It is hard to see how Bush could reverse this decline in America's "fear factor" during the remaining year of his presidency. That will be the job of the next president. And who would be the most up to the task?

Whoever could be up to the task? Who? Who? Ahhhh...

To answer that question, ask yourself which presidential candidate an Ahmadinejad, Assad or Kim would fear the most. I submit it is not Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or Mike Huckabee. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, the leading candidate to scare the snot out of our enemies is a certain former aviator who has been noted for his pugnacity and his unwavering support of the American war effort in Iraq. Ironically, John McCain's bellicose aura could allow us to achieve more of our objectives peacefully because other countries would be more afraid to mess with him than with most other potential occupants of the Oval Office -- or the current one.

That's it! Elect St. John and the regimes in Iran, Syria, and North Korea will vacate power and turn themselves in to be tried and found guilty of being very naughty indeed.

And if they don't, well, St. John jsut might sing his favorite song.

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Multiplication

St. John's agenda:

As in the primary, McCain plans to draw on his Vietnam veteran biography and decades of experience on military matters to argue that he alone is the most qualified to be a wartime commander in chief. He long ago started contrasting his embrace of a continued troop presence in Iraq, for an indefinite period of time, with Democratic calls for withdrawal.

Yesterday:

Four of the five U.S. soldiers who died Friday were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb during a combat patrol northwest of Baghdad, according to a U.S. military statement.

The fifth was killed by an explosion near the soldier's vehicle in Tameem province, north of Salaheddin province. Three other soldiers were wounded.

Multiply that by 100 years and you can see where a President McCain will lead us.

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On Learning From Experience

Or not:

"The President has made the right decisions for the right reasons and he always reflected the values of the American people," Cheney declared, "Would I support those same decisions today? You're damn right I would."

The crowd was adoring. There was a standing ovation as Cheney entered, and a woman shouting: "We Love You!" Attendees clamored for a good "Cheney shot," with one young conservative pumping his fist after catching an unobstructed wide lens take of the Vice President on his camera.

Here's an exclusive picture of Cheney addressing the CPAC rally:

Another nugget of wisdom from Dick:

"The freedoms we enjoy, the rights we exercise, all the privileges we have in this country - none of them can be taken for granted."

Do you detect a not-so-subtle threat in there?

[Via Think Progress.]

---

ADDED: They're flippin' delusional:

Bush spoke to a boisterous crowd shortly after 7 a.m. EST. The ballroom erupted in cheers when someone shouted "Are there conservatives in the house?" When the president walked on stage, they clapped and chanted "Four more years! Four more years!" They cheered his comments on tax relief, the military buildup in Iraq, the Reagan years and his opposition to abortion. They booed when Bush said his critics want to expand the size and scope of the federal government.

Talk about a cult of personality.

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Getting It Right

William Arkin:

Then there's the question of surrender: Every time the president mentions al Qaeda in Iraq, he is advertising a brand. Al Qaeda's success from the very beginning has not just been the appeal of Osama bin Laden's description of Islam under attack, nor even the abundance of angry, dissatisfied, and driven men; nor has it necessarily even been anti-Americanism. The success has been a macabre form of his success and the hope it suggests. When U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked in 1998, bin Laden's first spectacular and a follow-on to his fatwa that declared war on the enemies of Islam, volunteers flooded in. Young men who had never even heard of bin Laden were captivated: someone was striking back in their name.

[...]

By conferring such power on al Qaeda, by framing a bigger battle between healthy nations and a marginal terrorist organization, the president is mightily adding to the al Qaeda mystique. We are successful enough to pin down hundreds of thousands of American forces, many terrorists and would-be terrorists think. We are responsible for all of those deaths and injuries against the world's greatest army. We are the centerpiece of the president's State of the Union address, they must happily observe.

It's no wonder that conspiracy-minded types believe that BushCo™ are in league with bin Laden.

Meanwhile:

Five U.S. Soldiers Are Killed When Convoy Is Hit in Mosul

It should go without saying that there was no mention of this last night.

356 days.

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Heh

This has to make George and Dick very unhappy:

Iraq has formally ratified the UN's Kyoto Protocol on climate change, according to a government statement seen by AFP on Saturday.

"The presidential council ratified in its session on January 23 a law according to which the Republic of Iraq will join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol," the statement said.

[Via The Lede.]

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Sovereign

Or maybe not:

With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire, the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors immunity from Iraqi law, according to administration and military officials. [Emphases added.]

Why don't they just come out and say that Iraq is a US colony? Of course, that would mean being honest and this crowd doesn't do honesty.

Meanwhile, if two wars aren't enough for you and you're still waiting for war #3 (Iran) how about sating your bloodlust and skipping right to war #4?

The Bush administration is willing to send a small number of U.S. combat troops to Pakistan to help fight the insurgency there if Pakistani authorities ask for such help, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

Between war,war, and more war (not to mention our dandy economic situation) we'll be lucky to make it to the next presidential inauguration.

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Shocking!

Study: False Statements Preceded War

Who could have guessed?

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

I have trouble believing this.

BushCo™ isn't filled with liars! The very idea is preposterous!

Harrrumph!

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How To Win Friends And Influence People

The US dropped 40,000 pounds of bombs on southern Baghdad today.

That's about 40 kilotons or just under 3 Hiroshimas (without the pesky radiation, natch).

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1,000,000 Years

That's long time:

After the event ended, I asked McCain about his "hundred years" comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for "a thousand years" or "a million years," as far as he was concerned. [via Think Progress.]

The DNC provides us with a helpful bar-chart:

Of course, the Huckster's version of that graph would show humans as only having been around for 6,000 years so....

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$1,500,000,000,000

The mind reels:

The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"-- including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.

[...]

The report argues that war funding is diverting billions of dollars away from "productive investment" by American businesses in the United States. It also says that the conflicts are pulling reservists and National Guardsmen away from their jobs, resulting in economic disruptions for U.S. employers that the report estimates at $1 billion to $2 billion.

Heckuva job, Bushie.

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The Pictures Say It All

He Who Must Not Be Questioned with a convicted criminal and alleged Iranian spy:

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Curiouser And Curiouser

The Greenwald/Boylan imbroglio takes another turn. Greg Mitchell:

E&P contacted Boylan for a clarification about the email. Late Monday night he (or someone claiming to be him) replied: "I am denying writing and sending it. I know from past experience with Mr. Greenwald that any email exchange with him would be posted to his site as well as there is no need to discuss anything with him. I would only contact him in response to anything he would directly send to me as he did in this case. I have not contacted Mr. Greenwald since this summer" -- until Greenwald asked him to confirm the Sunday email, when "I told him it was not mine and I did not send it."

[...]

Knowing that I had a brief exchange of emails with Boylan last spring, I went back and found them -- with the Boylan in them sounding an awful lot like the Boylan in the disputed email to Greenwald.

Personally, I think Boylan is lying. The irony is that Boylan (if it was him) was disputing Glenn's writings on the politicization of the military and Boylan's e-mail (if it was him) was an entirely political complaint.

Perhaps more seriously, if the e-mail wasn't sent by Boylan that would mean the military has a very serious security problem.

Somebody might want to look into this.

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Mysterious Friends In High Places

Here's a surprise:

Potential prosecution of Blackwater guards allegedly involved in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians last month may have been compromised because the guards received immunity for statements they made to State Department officials investigating the incident, federal law enforcement officials said yesterday.

FBI agents called in to take over the State Department's investigation two weeks after the Sept. 16 shootings cannot use any information gleaned during questioning of the guards by the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is charged with supervising security contractors.

Golly, imagine that. BushCheney's favorite mercenary outfit/cult (Amway) gets to skate.

So who made the decision to grant immunity to the mercs? Who knows!

It is unclear when or by whom the grant of immunity was explained to the guards. Under federal case law applying to government workers, only voluntary answers to questions posed by the employing agency can be used against them in a criminal prosecution. If an employee is ordered to answer under threat of disciplinary action, the resulting statements cannot be used.

[...]

Diplomatic Security spokesman Brian Leventhal declined to comment on the situation, first reported yesterday by the Associated Press. Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Blackwater Worldwide, also declined to comment.

It almost makes me think the executive branch has become a lawless criminal organization but that couldn't happen, could it? We live under the rule of law, not men, don't we?

Or perhaps it's once again time for the chairs of various Congressional committees to send more Sternly Worded Letters™ to the White House.

That'll get to the bottom of this.

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You Can't Keep A Corrupt Iraqi Down

Judy Miller's favorite:

Ahmad Chalabi, the controversial, ubiquitous Iraqi politician and one-time Bush administration favorite, has re-emerged as a central figure in the latest U.S. strategy for Iraq.

His latest job: To press Iraq's central government to use early security gains from the surge to deliver better electricity, health, education and local security services to Baghdad neighborhoods. That's the next phase of the surge plan. Until now, the U.S. military, various militias, insurgents and some U.S. backed groups have provided those services without great success.

[...]

Chalabi "is an important part of the process," said Col. Steven Boylan, Petraeus' spokesman. "He has a lot of energy."

Never mind that Chalabi, among other things, is suspected of spying for Iran. He's the neocon's boy until the end.

As a side note, the Col. Steven Boylan mentioned above had a bizarre e-mail exchange with Glenn Greenwald yesterday. Col. Boylan might not be all that right in the head.

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Conscription (Of A Sort)

Who wants to go to Iraq? Nobody:

The State Department said Friday it will begin ordering diplomats to serve in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers to work at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the first such large-scale call-up since the Vietnam War.

[...]

Those notified that they have been selected for a one-year posting will have 10 days to accept or reject the position. If not enough say yes, some will be ordered to go to Iraq and face dismissal if they refuse, Thomas said.

[...]

"If someone decides ... they do not want to go, we will then consider appropriate action," [Harry Thomas, director general of the Foreign Service] said. "We have many options, including dismissal from the Foreign Service."

You can add the Diplomatic Corps to the list of things BushCheney has destroyed.

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Speaking Of Iraq...

Frederick of Hollywood:

We will not be a safer country, we will not be a safer America if the whole world watches us being defeated by a bunch of kids with improvised explosive devices.

Doddering Fred is starting to sound like his hero. Remember what George said earlier this year?

...it is our job to “work to change the conditions that moved 19 kids to come on airplanes to murder our citizens. … I could not send a mother’s child into combat if I did not believe it was necessary."

I can' figure out which it is. Are terrorists twelve feet tall and made of steel or little children?

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How to Win Friends and Influence People

Perhaps a copy of Dale Carnegie's famous book should be sent to Defense Secretary Bob Gates:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday questioned the commitment of some NATO allies to winning in Afghanistan, saying the outcome there is at "real risk" because some European nations are unwilling to provide enough troops and resources to the mission.

"In Afghanistan a handful of allies are paying the price and bearing the burdens," he told a conference of army leaders from 38 European nations organized by the chief of U.S. Army Europe.

If you ask me other NATO countries are being smart. Why put their troops under the command of BushCheney?

Funny thing is the US had more than enough troops to stabilize Afghanistan all by itself.

Too bad certain people decided to invade and occupy another country which posed no threat.

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12 Phony Soldiers

Capt. Jason Blindauer, Capt. Elizabeth Bostwick, Capt. Jeffrey Bouldin, Capt. Jason Bugajski, Capt. Anton Kemps, Capt. Kristy (Luken) McCormick, Capt. Luis Carlos Montalván, Capt. William Murphy, Capt. Josh Rizzo, Capt. William "Jamie" Ruehl, Capt. Gregg Tharp, and Capt. Gary Williams:

Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion. Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.

As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out.

[...]

Iraqi security forces would not be able to salvage the situation. Even if all the Iraqi military and police were properly trained, equipped and truly committed, their 346,000 personnel would be too few. As it is, Iraqi soldiers quit at will. The police are effectively controlled by militias. And, again, corruption is debilitating. U.S. tax dollars enrich self-serving generals and support the very elements that will battle each other after we're gone.

[...]

There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition.

America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice.

Voices of experience. Voices that, before the day is out, will be slimed to within an inch of their lives by Our Friends on the Right.

You can count on it.

---

UPDATE: Told ya.

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Good Old Fashioned American Ingenuity

Silly String:

After months of frustration, a mother of a soldier in Iraq has found someone to ship about 80,000 cans of Silly String to the troops, who use the foamy substance to detect trip wires on bombs.

[...]

The thousands of cans of Silly String are boxed and addressed to individual servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq. But since the string comes in an aerosol can, it is considered a hazardous material, and only certain companies can ship it.

Thom Campbell, one of the founders of Capacity LLC, a New Jersey-based shipping company experienced in hazardous materials, heard about Shriver's problem and decided to help out.

[...]

Shriver's Silly String campaign began late last year after her son, Todd, a soldier in Ramadi slated to leave Iraq in November, asked his parents to send cans of the product.

Soldiers can shoot the substance, which travels about 10-12 feet, across a room before entering. If it hangs in the air, that indicates a possible trip wire.

Good on Shriver and Campbell.

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Absolute Loyalty

It has become a truism that to deviate even slightly from the approved script regarding Iraq brings down denunciations of disloyalty and ulterior motives. So it comes as no surprise that the latest victim is the former commander in Iraq Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez:

Republicans reacted with surprise and recrimination Sunday to blistering criticism of the Iraq war from former coalition commander retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.

Leading the charge is none other than Sen. Lindsey "Five Rugs for Five Bucks" Graham (R-The Closet):

"I'm astounded, really...every time we talked to Gen. Sanchez, we got pushback -- we have enough troops; Guard and reserves aren't being strained," Graham said.

Now for the interesting part:

[Graham] added that Sanchez's own record in Iraq is blemished: Abu Ghraib "got out of control under his watch. The war in general got out of control under his watch."

That's amusing. Previously, Lindsey declared that the ultimate responsibility for the abuses at Abu Ghraib lay with Brg. Gen. Janis Karpinsky despite the fact that Sanchez gave the order:

Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior U.S. military officer in Iraq, borrowed heavily from a list of high-pressure interrogation tactics used at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and approved letting senior officials at a Baghdad jail use military dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, sensory deprivation, and diets of bread and water on detainees whenever they wished, according to newly obtained documents.

So what we have here is a general avoiding any responsibility for his actions, a senator aiming his fire at whomever is politically convenient at the moment, and an entire ideology based on a cult-like devotion to a discredited idea.

This is another truism: Everybody involved in this outrage is scum.

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The Worm Turns

Now it's Gen. Ricardo "Dirty" Sanchez's turn to abandon the Good Ship Iraq:

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, coalition commander in 2003 and 2004, called the Iraq war "a nightmare with no end in sight," for which he said the Bush administration, the State Department and Congress all share blame.

Sanchez told a group of military reporters in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday that such dereliction of duty by a military officer would mean immediate dismissal or court martial, but the politicians have not been held accountable.

[...]

Sanchez pointed to what he said was "neglect and incompetence at the National Security Council level" which has put the U.S. military into "an intractable situation" in Iraq.

NSC spokeswoman Kate Starr issued a short response to Sanchez Friday evening:

"We appreciate his service to the country. As General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker said, there's more work to be done but progress is being made in Iraq. And that's what we're focused on now."

That's all well and good, General, but where were you when you could have made a difference?

This brings me to something I've been thinking about lately. When was the last time a high-ranking executive branch official resigned based of principal? The best I've been able to come up with is Secretary of State Cyrus Vance quitting the Carter administration more than 27 years ago.

It seems the usual method anymore is to resign, wait a year, then express "misgivings." This is not especially helpful.

Would that we see some integrity.

---

ADDED: To clarify, what I mean is nobody resigns based on principal and says so at the time of the resignation. Nobody says, "I'm resigning because I can't be part of such-and-such policy." The criticisms always come well after the resignation. And often in the form of a book.

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Lead Or Leave

Nancy Pelosi:

"Look," she said, the chicken breast on her plate untouched. "I had, for five months, people sitting outside my home, going into my garden in San Francisco, angering neighbors, hanging their clothes from trees, building all kinds of things -- Buddhas? I don't know what they were -- couches, sofas, chairs, permanent living facilities on my front sidewalk."

Unsmilingly, she continued: "If they were poor and they were sleeping on my sidewalk, they would be arrested for loitering, but because they have 'Impeach Bush' across their chest, it's the First Amendment."

[...]

"We have to make responsible decisions in the Congress that are not driven by the dissatisfaction of anybody who wants the war to end tomorrow," Pelosi told the gathering at the Sofitel, arranged by the Christian Science Monitor. Though crediting activists for their "passion," Pelosi called it "a waste of time" for them to target Democrats. "They are advocates," she said. "We are leaders."

That's just it, Nancy: You're not leading.

As digby says, he riff-raff is getting on her nerves.

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Wheeeee!

Everybody join in!

Turkey took a step toward a military operation in Iraq on Tuesday, as its top political and military leaders issued a statement authorizing troops to cross the Iraq border to eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the northern region.

[...]

A government official without authorization to speak publicly on the issue who asked not to be identified by name, said preparations were under way to seek parliamentary approval for a cross-border military operation, a request that would be the first formal step toward an offensive.

[...]

Government offices and institutions have been ordered “to take all economic and political measures, including cross-border operations when necessary, in order to end the existence of the terror organization in a neighboring country,” said the statement, which was released by Mr. Erdogan’s office, after he met with political and military leaders in Ankara.

It looks like the Turks might be planning a Surge of their own.

But let's admit it: Someday, in one way or another, we'll leave Iraq and Iraq will cease to exist. The north will be under Turkish control, the south under Iranian control, and the middle (Sunnistan?)...who knows.

Good job, George and Dick.

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So Much For That

I can't wait for all the smart people who insisted that the escalation - oops, I mean "surge" - would bring about Paradise on the Euphrates to rationalize this:

"I don't think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd. "To me, it is a very inaccurate term. This is a struggle about power."

[...]

The acrimony among politicians has strained the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki close to the breaking point. Nearly half of the cabinet ministers have left their posts. The Shiite alliance in parliament, which once controlled 130 of the 275 seats, is disintegrating with the defection of two important parties.

[...]

"There has been no significant progress for months," said Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq's two vice presidents and the most influential Sunni politician in the country. "There is a shortage of goodwill from those parties who are now in the driver's seat of the country."

But worry not. Just give it another six months and that Paradise will surely arrive.

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A Must Read

Newsweek:

Since the fatal Sept. 16 Blackwater USA shooting in Baghdad’s Nasoor Square, officials from the private security company have insisted that their guards were responding to fire from “armed enemies.” Yet an extensive evidence file put together by the Iraqi National Police and obtained by NEWSWEEK—including documents, maps, sworn witness statements and police video footage—appears to contradict the contractors’ version of events. A confidential incident report, which has been provided by Iraqi National Police investigators to American military and civilian officials, concludes that the Blackwater vehicles “opened fire crazily and randomly, without any reason.”

Watch the video. And remember that the helicopter isn't US military (or Iraqi military - if such a thing exists.) but a mercenary helicopter.

Coming soon to a town near you.

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There's A War On

Via Attaturk:

Army of Dude

Why? Why is Limbaugh beloved by millions?

Why?

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Well Then

Remember way back in 2003 the killing and stringing-up of four Blackwater mercenaries in Fallujah? The event that led to two fierce battles and the practical razing of the city? Whoops! Guess who's at fault:

Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war by sending an unprepared team of security guards into an insurgent stronghold, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, according to a congressional investigation released Thursday.

The private security company, one of the largest working in Iraq and under scrutiny for how it operates, also is faulted for initially insisting its guards were properly prepared and equipped and for impeding the inquiry by the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In other words, Blackwater lied and engaged in a cover up.

The families of the four killed contractors filed suit against the company in January 2005, saying that Blackwater's cost-cutting measures led to the deaths. That lawsuit is still pending as a federal judge tries to determine whether it should be heard in arbitration or in open court.

Blackwater has argued in court that it is immune to such a lawsuit because the company operates as an extension of the military and cannot be responsible for deaths in a war zone.

Ah, but Blackwater doesn't fall under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) so arguing that they're "an extension of the military" doesn't wash.

The State Department, one of Blackwater's largest customers, has opened an investigation into the incident. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told Congress Wednesday that the incident in Baghdad was tragic, but called private security companies such as Blackwater essential to operations in Iraq.

I'll say it again: If the US is unable to wage war without large numbers of mercenaries then it has no business in starting wars.

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Gee, No One Could Have Predicted This

Good ol' Blackwater:

In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department's authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions. "The military is very sensitive to its relationship that they've built with the Iraqis being altered or even severely degraded by actions such as this event," the official said.

"This is a nightmare," said a senior U.S. military official. "We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term." The official was referring to the prison scandal that emerged in 2004 in which U.S. soldiers tortured and abused Iraqis.

[...]

In Iraq, Blackwater operations have been a source of controversy. In 2004, insurgents ambushed four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah and mutilated their bodies. U.S. Marines were ordered to invade the city to capture the assailants, triggering one of the war's most fierce battles. The firm mostly hires former Navy SEAL operatives.

"They are immature shooters and have very quick trigger fingers. Their tendency is shoot first and ask questions later," said an Army lieutenant colonel serving in Iraq. Referring to the Sept. 16 shootings, the officer added, "None of us believe they were engaged, but we are all carrying their black eyes."

Putting Iraq aside, it's inevitable that mercenary armies like Blackwater will increasingly used unless brought under control now (preferably by putting them out of business). These mercenaries are already operating in the US, most famously in New Orleans after Katrina. Lindsay Beyerstein met some of them:

The scariest people I've ever met were the Blackwater guys I found clustered around a van behind a New Orleans hotel shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

[...]

We'd already encountered a few other Blackwater guys during our trip. One juiced up freak in mirrored sunglasses and a Blackwater bearclaw t-shirt actually lunged at our car when my colleague tried to take a picture of the hotel he was guarding. He didn't point his weapon or yell, or do anything a rational person in a defensive posture might have done. He just grunted really loudly and tried to stick his head in our window.

Mind you, he wasn't holding a position in an emergency. We were driving in broad daylight through downtown New Orleans with a bunch of other traffic (military and civilian).

[...]

What I didn't realize at the time was that these Blackwater guys thought of themselves as frontline soldiers in a literal war zone, ready to use deadly force at the slightest provocation. That was an unfounded estimate, in the middle of the day in downtown New Orleans several days after the city had been secured by the legitimate authorities.

We certainly weren't seeing that level of aggression or anxiety from the 82nd Airborne or the NOLA police, or the National Guard, or anyone else in the vicinity.

Read the whole thing to get a real sense of what we could be dealing with in the future.

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ADDED: Happily for Blackwater, they have friends in high places:

The State Department has told Blackwater USA that it cannot provide the committee documents or information regarding its security work for U.S. diplomats in Iraq -- including the incident earlier this month in which Iraqi civilians were killed -- without getting the State Department's approval first.

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I Refuse To Pay More Than $500 For The Brooklyn Bridge

The Senate Majority Leader:

After weeks of suggesting Democrats would temper their approach to Iraq legislation in a bid to attract more Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared abruptly Tuesday that he had no plans to do so.

Yah. Uh-huh. Pull the other one.

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Throw Them All Out

So Iraqi "Prime Minister" Nuri al-Maliki is upset that the powerful and connected mercenary outfit Blackwater USA has killed innocent civilians:

Several violent episodes involving Blackwater have infuriated Iraqi officials. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the decision meant Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer."

"Blackwater has made many mistakes resulting in other deaths, but this is the last and the biggest mistake. This is unjustified," Khalaf said. "Security contracts do not allow them to shoot people randomly. They are here to protect personnel, not shoot people without reason."

None of this should be surprising. Blackwater and other mercenary providers essentially operate under no laws. And let's remember that it was the killing of four Blackwater mercs that led to razing of Fallujah.

I agree with Larry Johnson that Blackwater isn't going anywhere. Indeed, the Iraqi "government" has already started backing off.

Throw them all out. If the US military is unable to undertake missions without the use of mercenaries then the US government had better start rethinking a few things.

John Amato has video of what appears to be "contractors" shooting up Iraqi civilians. And I highly recommend Jeremy Scahill's Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Blackwater is much more frightening than you might think.

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Operation Infinite Occupation

Even though it's his last day as Minister of Propaganda Presidential Press Secretary Tony Snow can't resist catapulting that propaganda:

Q: How long are we going to be in Iraq? Because the President last night was setting the stage for a long-term relationship with the Iraqis, which would include a U.S. military presence there.

SNOW: Yeah, well, the Iraqis want that.

No, Tony, they don't.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we're finally rid of Alberto Abu Ghraib Guantanamo Gonzales.

Off the ship, the rats are left treading water.

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Remember Afghanistan?

Well isn't this just grand?

The NATO force in Afghanistan does not have enough troops or equipment to secure advances made against Taliban insurgents and to guarantee a successful end to its mission, a lawmakers' report concluded on Friday.

[...]

"The NATO mission still suffers from a lack of personnel and assets," the assembly's Defence and Security Committee concluded after a six-day tour of allied operations last week which included talks with local and national Afghan officials.

Earlier this week:

In an interview billed as his first since leaving the top Pentagon post, Donald Rumsfeld calls Afghanistan "a big success," but says U.S. efforts in Iraq are hampered by the failure of Iraq's government to establish a foundation for democracy.

"In Afghanistan, 28 million people are free. They have their own president, they have their own parliament. Improved a lot on the streets," Rumsfeld says in the October issue of GQ magazine.

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Clutching At Straws

Squeaky Wheels:

When Biden thought he had a gotcha -- contradictions between Petraeus's report on Iraqi violence and the less favorable one by the Government Accountability Office -- Petraeus calmly pointed out that the GAO had to cut its data-gathering five weeks short to meet reporting requirements to Congress. And since those most recent five weeks had been particularly productive for the coalition, the GAO numbers were not only outdated but misleading.

Yes, that 30 days made all the difference. And it's curious that Chuckles fails to mention how Petraeus arrived at his conclusions. Oh, that's right, it's because Petraeus is being dodgy about his methodology. Well, maybe not so curious.

Krauthammer puts me in mind of a stereotypical mad scientist who cackles maniacally as his laboratory burns down around him. And like that mad scientist, Chuckles doesn't end as the ruler of the world or a god but as a pathetic little figure soon forgotten.

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Big Surprise

George's speech last night was chock full o' lies, distortions and omissions.

You're shocked, I'm sure.

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Another Must Read

Tony Norman.

Ghosts, indeed.

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Stop Calling It The "Surge"

It's now "Return on Success."

We are ruled by morons.

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Sucker

Not. Gonna. Happen:

Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to shift course and pursue modest bipartisan measures to alter U.S. military strategy in Iraq, hoping to use incremental changes instead of aggressive legislation to break the grip Republicans have held over the direction of war policy.

[...]

"We're reaching out to the Republicans to allow them to fulfill their word," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) said yesterday. "A number of them are quoted significantly saying that come September that there would have to be a change of the course in the war in Iraq."

And you fall for that every time, Harry.

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All You Need To Know

From Think Progress:

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The Enemy Of My Enemy...

So now Iraqi "radical cleric" Moqtada al-Sadr is a potential BFF:

U.S. diplomats and military officers have been in talks with members of the armed movement loyal to Muqtada Sadr, a sharp reversal of policy and a grudging recognition that the radical Shiite cleric holds a dominant position in much of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.

[...]

In 2004, U.S. officials branded Sadr an outlaw and demanded his arrest, sparking two major Shiite revolts in Baghdad and in the southern shrine city of Najaf that left more than a thousand dead. Last year, as the Bush administration developed its "surge" strategy, military planners said the campaign would also target Shiite militias involved in sectarian killings. U.S. commanders later accused Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army of carrying out deadly bomb attacks against U.S. forces and spearheading sectarian violence.

Be sure to update your scorecards.

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It's Official

They think we're idiots. Why does the administration repeatedly conflate Iraq with al-Qaeda? It's simple!

The reason to emphasize al-Qaeda, aides said, is simple. "People know what that means," said one senior official who spoke about internal strategy on the condition of anonymity. "The average person doesn't understand why the Sunnis and Shia don't like each other. They don't know where the Kurds live. . . . And al-Qaeda is something they know. They're the enemy of the United States."

[...]

Former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, one of the group's founders, said the ad is not misleading by saying "they attacked us" in the context of Iraq and showing the image of the Sept. 11 attack. "Iraqis did not attack us on 9/11," he agreed. But it does not matter, Fleischer added, because some of the same sorts of people who did are now fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

"Nine-one-one absolutely is a bona fide, legitimate reason to remind people what's at stake," he said. "The point is not that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. They're not. But 9/11 should be a vivid reminder to everyone about how vulnerable our country is and that's why we need to win in Iraq."

I've been trying to unpack that statement. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 therefore Iraq has everything to do with 9/11. Have I got that about right?

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Headline Of The Day

Bush policy to bequeath Iraq to successor

Says it all.

From the article comes this little tidbit:

One State Department official recalled that before the 2003 invasion, [Amb. Ryan] Crocker "warned that it would probably take 10 years to stabilize Iraq. And that's about what it's going to take -- 10 years."

Gee, thanks for saying something at the time, Betty.

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