As long as Iraq seems to be less violent to the troops, this development obviously plays into the hands of "We are Winning" McCain, as you note.
If Iraq isn't too hot to handle, our elites plan to hold onto it indefinitely, bases and all. I'm sure Sadr is asute enough to figure that out.
And to understand that the American rubes only get one shot every four years at effecting something like ending a pricey colonial occupation, because the Dem Congress has clearly determined that only the president has anything to say about military occupations soaking up all our ground troops and costing $12 billion a momth.
I'm becoming very confident that the BushAmerican electorate (both primary and general) will fumble again in 08. A clear pattern of failure is developing.
Posted by euzoius at January 22, 2008 10:56 AMRachel Maddow said yesterday that the surge served its purpose which was to extend our time in country long enough to try to force the next president to stay in Iraq - the main goal of the invasion to begin with. That's why Bush is frantically trying to make some sort of long term pact between the US & Iraq. Which was the point all along, to get our military into their country so the oil companies could get their hands on the oil. Getting the occupation off the front pages helped take some of the pressure off, as well, though those pesky suicide bombers keep trying to get themselves a headline. But at least we don't have to hear about the 40,000lbs of ordnance dropped on Iraq this week - wouldn't be prudent to let the rubes know our military casualties are down because we're dropping shit from the air and skedaddling.
Posted by iamcoyote at January 22, 2008 11:15 AMthe Surge will succeed because it has fulfilled its original intent: Keep troops there until Bush leaves office, insuring that he will not be called a loser...since you can't lose if the game is still being played. As most of us have known since last summer, the Petraeus Report was a sham, concocted at the White House and eagerly fed to the public by the Media. The ceasefire by al Sadr has been effectively hidden from the public in order to enhance the "Bush Succeeds" meme, but the day he decides to call it off, we'll be right back to where we were. If he and the other Shia clerics get the perception that a Democratic president will continue the current occupation in some form, they'll probably lock and load. If they think he/she will pull out, they'll be patient. However, they are politicians also and may be forced to react to the Sunni Awakening squads armed up by US forces.
Posted by T2 at January 22, 2008 11:23 AMThat was quite succinct perfection, coyote.
Posted by euzoius at January 22, 2008 12:09 PMFred Thompson has left the arena. Yes, they guy that GOPers were hailing as the true conservative that would save the party from the thrice-married Rudy is out. He was never in it, and apparently, neither was Rudy. This is a windfall for McOld, who is sure to inherit the elderly vote Wrinkles was courting.
Posted by T2 at January 22, 2008 12:20 PMThat was quite succinct perfection, coyote.
*blush*
Coming from you, euzoius, it's high praise indeed! I'm a major fan of both you and Rachel Maddow. Thanks!
Posted by iamcoyote at January 22, 2008 12:33 PMt2,
the sad thing is that no one even knew he was still running...
Posted by Turkana at January 22, 2008 12:34 PMYes, when the opposition nicknames two of your "stars" Grandpa Fred and McOld, it ain't a great sign. And McCain's goiters and gnome-like appearance are a real trial to watch.
RIP Grandpa Fred, a global warming denying conservative clown par excellence. He always looked like he was workin' on a particularly hard, immobile turd to me, but I guess he was a celeb movie star.....
Posted by euzoius at January 22, 2008 12:36 PMSomeone starting to sound like Bill Maher. More BS about lies, ask Rep Murtha, he sees the change. Where's the news from Germany? From France? From Chile? From Argentina? The news from any of these places shows the change from a year ago, even the Vietnamese see it. Surely some of these news providers aren't beholding to our president. Surely there's some independence there. And our president isn't scampering about hastily drawing up our subsequent basing in Iraq for the years to follow.
Yeah, there's a war on. Nice of you to remember. Have you been out to an airport to welcome our soldiers home? If not, why not? Don't they deserve a nice welcome home, or do you want to treat them like those returning from Vietnam. They are your soldiers too.
Posted by peter at January 22, 2008 12:38 PMHe always looked like he was workin' on a particularly hard, immobile turd to me,
Now, that was funny!
Posted by iamcoyote at January 22, 2008 12:48 PMhey, peter. so nice of you to, um, volunteer your thoughts...
and you do know that you're taking murtha out of context, right? right?
Posted by Turkana at January 22, 2008 12:48 PMTwo words Peter. Fuck you! As if you care one iota about those in Iraq. It's because of people like you and your leader that they are there in the first place to get blown apart. Don't give me that crap about your caring. It's as phony as the Mitt video of him trying to act cool.
Posted by Judith at January 22, 2008 12:51 PMTurkana, he's been pushing that same stupid stretch about Murtha for a year, for some reason, he thinks it means something. petey knows he looks stupid; he's accepted the job of village idiot here, even though we weren't advertising for one. Just point and laugh - there's no learning goin' on with ol' pete, so no sense wasting time trying to give 'im some facts.
Posted by iamcoyote at January 22, 2008 01:03 PM"...Iraqis recognize that large parts of Baghdad are more peaceful than they were...."
A.k.a. "ethnically cleansed".
Posted by bartcopfan at January 22, 2008 02:21 PMbartcopfan,
exactly. which is another of the reasons violence was down, for a while. back up, this month.
Posted by Turkana at January 22, 2008 02:41 PMHave you been out to an airport to welcome our soldiers home? If not, why not?
Have you been out to a Veterans Hospital to wave your pathetic welcome home flags peter? If not, why not?
Fucking loser!
Posted by Seven of Six at January 22, 2008 03:00 PMWhen is a Democratic candidate going to connect the dots between the trillion bucks we're flushing down the toilet in Iraq and the sad state of the U.S. economy? To me, that seems the best way to defeat McOld -- to point out that every economic promise he makes is a lie, because if his (Bush's) Iraq policy stands, the money and the American economy we all know and love, simply won't be there. Ask your Republican friends why it's okay to pour a trillion into the pockets of corrupt politicians, defense contractors and terrorists, but a mortal sin to spend a dime helping ordinary Americans.
Posted by dalloway at January 23, 2008 06:04 AM