Opening The Files: 06/18/07
September Showdown: What a Crock(er)
One of the headlines making the rounds the other day was "U.S. says Iraq troop surge complete". Huzzah! The surge was a success! We can start bringing troops home!
Alas, reading through the article one finds that merely the buildup of US forces is complete. The surge is very much still progressing. And with the full compliment now in place, the push to downplay the importance of September continues in earnest.
Gen. Petraeus, who recently called the surge a rousing success at securing normalcy for parts of Baghdad (well 40% of it anyway), says that even if he reports in September that all is sunshine and roses, we aren't likely to see any real shift in strategy. Guess Mitch McConnell didn't get the memo that "stay the course" is now operative again.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador Ryan "Whadda" Crocker was so robotic in delivering his prepared talking points I thought he might start sparking at any minute from meme meltdown. Maybe the Bushies should just quit with the spin and go with the Smothers Brothers approach. It would save us all a lot time, effort, money and most importantly, lives.
Arianna translates the CrockerBot2000 for us. Anyone else think it's time to change the batteries?
Last week, the right went schizo over comments made by Sen. Harry Reid criticizing Generals Pace and Petraeus for their lack of candor on the war in Iraq. Many argued it was "inappropriate" to question generals "in a time of war". Miles Mogulescu argues that with all the reports coming out showing less than stellar returns on the surge, Reid is right to question the credibility of those charged with its implementation.
Station Agent crunches the coalition numbers and finds that the subtraction button is getting pretty lonely.
Robert Stein says that regardless of what Petraeus and Crocker have planned, one endangered species is looking to fly the coop before they get their wings clipped. If only migration season would come early this year.
Update: Libby has some thoughts and a new nickname for the surgin' General.
(Filed at State of the Day)
One of the headlines making the rounds the other day was "U.S. says Iraq troop surge complete". Huzzah! The surge was a success! We can start bringing troops home!
Alas, reading through the article one finds that merely the buildup of US forces is complete. The surge is very much still progressing. And with the full compliment now in place, the push to downplay the importance of September continues in earnest.
Gen. Petraeus, who recently called the surge a rousing success at securing normalcy for parts of Baghdad (well 40% of it anyway), says that even if he reports in September that all is sunshine and roses, we aren't likely to see any real shift in strategy. Guess Mitch McConnell didn't get the memo that "stay the course" is now operative again.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador Ryan "Whadda" Crocker was so robotic in delivering his prepared talking points I thought he might start sparking at any minute from meme meltdown. Maybe the Bushies should just quit with the spin and go with the Smothers Brothers approach. It would save us all a lot time, effort, money and most importantly, lives.
Arianna translates the CrockerBot2000 for us. Anyone else think it's time to change the batteries?
Last week, the right went schizo over comments made by Sen. Harry Reid criticizing Generals Pace and Petraeus for their lack of candor on the war in Iraq. Many argued it was "inappropriate" to question generals "in a time of war". Miles Mogulescu argues that with all the reports coming out showing less than stellar returns on the surge, Reid is right to question the credibility of those charged with its implementation.
Station Agent crunches the coalition numbers and finds that the subtraction button is getting pretty lonely.
Robert Stein says that regardless of what Petraeus and Crocker have planned, one endangered species is looking to fly the coop before they get their wings clipped. If only migration season would come early this year.
Update: Libby has some thoughts and a new nickname for the surgin' General.
(Filed at State of the Day)
Labels: OTF
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