"Their only crimes or offenses were they were successful" against the Mahdi Army, a powerful Shiite militia, said Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, commanding general of the Iraq Assistance Group, which works with Iraqi security forces. "I'm tired of seeing good Iraqi officers having to look over their shoulders when they're trying to do the right thing."
Do you remember the three goals that President Bush, in announcing the surge, said he expected the Iraqi government to make progress on? Oil revenue-sharing, reversing de-Baathification, and amending the constitution? They're all but dead in the water. And while our soldiers risk their lives in oppressive heat daily to make Baghdad safer, the Iraqi Parliament is planning to take a couple of months off this summer (better not do that, fellas, said the House Armed Services Committee chairman today).
But look, here's the really stunning evidence of the collapse of White House policy. The CBS News/New York Times poll last week made news because of its findings about how public opinion has become more favorable with regard to the environment. But check out the full poll results in this PDF file. According to the poll question Do you think the United States should or should not set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq sometime in 2008?, 64 percent said yes, 32 percent said no. That's a seven-point increase in support for a troop withdrawal deadline in only two weeks.
And this question's response is a stunner:
.
Currently, President Bush and Congress disagree about what to do about U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Who do you think should have the final say about troop levels in Iraq: the President or Congress?
Get this: 57 percent of those polled believe Congress, not the Commander in Chief, should have the final say over troop levels. Only 35 percent said that the president should retain ultimate authority in this regard. The president lost nine points on this question in just two weeks. That is a collapse.
.
Condi Rice said yesterday that the administration won't accept any timetables on a spending bill. She's just whistling past the graveyard. Reality is going to impose a timetable on this president and his party. When Bush vetoes the military spending bill this week and sends it back to Congress, they should pass a compromise that funds the troops, without a withdrawal deadline -- but only for the next six months. Let's revisit the funding issue in November after 10 months of surging. We'll see how many Republicans are willing to stand by "no withdrawal deadline" staring down the barrel of an election year.
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Well, you might be right about that, Rod. I don't run in Republican circles, but I do think there are a lot of them out there who have a really sicko kind of blind loyalty to Bush...the same kind of thing the Dems had for poor Clinton (although I look back at Clinton now with some fondness--he was an immoral sleeze, but he had good political instincts). Compared to him Bush is the village idiot of politics. I tend toward a David Kuo kind of outlook because of the last four years of Republicans in power. And, I agree with WFB. It's just that the Democrats I see on the news every night--Pelosi, Reid, etc., make my skin crawl--they are political down to the marrow and I don't see any real concern for America or its soldiers. You've really got me depressed now.
I like your idea to make a mandatory re-eval in six months. It's the only way the Democrats can actually put the onus on the Republicans. Well, the only way to do so without being completely political and waiting for the presidential elections.
Personally, I'm not holding my breath. I'm on orders and fully expect to serve 15 more months in Iraq. Even if we are the last guys out. That's what we get for being the 10th Mountain Division of the gloried 18th Airborne Corps.
I personally think both sides are using us as pawns, in different ways. But I will go no farther down that road, as I might be tempted to criticize my Commander in Chief. Regs is regs.
Gretchen, I was just about to ask you where you have been all my life when you let escape the following:
"Rod, I'll grant you we can't 'win'
Iraq...the idea that the Iraqis
desired freedom and democracy
crashed long ago."
Do you really think Americans would act differently if they knew their spouses and children would be tortured and killed if they didn't toe the line? Do you think Iraqis can see what U.S. Democrats and so-called paleocons are saying about abandoning them and still spit in al Qaeda's or (fill in the blank) eye by cooperating wholeheartedly with their elected government? The Iraqis were told for years that U.S. Democrats, neolibertarians (if the shoe fits, Rod) and media would pull another Vietnam/Gulf war I on them after a few years, and now they can see that it's true. (May God help us). So, my dear Gretchen, would you act differently if you were in their shoes? Some do and are killed for it. Would you want an Islamic fascist government to run your life, or would you want freedom and democracy?
Do you think that the folks who endured the USSR yoke all those years didn't want freedom and democracy? The Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans, etc. are just the modern-day citizens of the old USSR.
If you believe in a just God who created all people to live free, please rethink your statement. Or, if you don't care about that, please think about the nuclear war that will most certainly result if we abandon the Mid east, along with our energy supply, to the nuclear-armed Islamic fascists.
Cleveland, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't believe that a majority of Iraqis want freedom and democracy enough to fight and die for it. Many of them are willing to fight and die for petty tribal reasons, which highlights one big difference between the Middle Eastern mind and the Western mind.
Your assertion that the Muslims are the same as the citizens of the USSR is like comparing apples and oranges and I don't buy it for a minute. I believe in a just God who created all people to know and glorify Him. He also created man with free will, and they often choose unwisely--sometimes over and over again, century after century.
Gretchen, God did not create us apples and oranges. He created ALL OF US with the same laws and desires written on our hearts. Until the Catholic heretic and pedophile, Mohammad, came along, and started "converting" minds by the sword, there was no "one big difference between the Middle Eastern mind and Western mind." Of course many Muslims "often choose unwisely." So did the captive peoples of Germany and the old USSR. That is my point: if a Nazi of whatever stripe sticks a gun in your ear and fully intends to kill your family, you too will choose unwisely to prevent that from happening. Do you really want to think like a paleocon or any other con who has his head in the sand?
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