Sounds like its time to bomb Iran!
Posted by jj at December 12, 2006 09:00 AMAs Bush continues with his “I’m listening (to only some of you) tour”, the White House has just announced that his rollout a "new" policy will now be delayed until after Christmas. . .
The Decider is deciding, and we let him. It's not supposed to be this way--the people, through the Congress, are supposed to be deciding such issues, and the Executive is supposed to implement those decisions.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States . . .
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence . . .
Jamrs Madison said: Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded. They are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting laws.
Posted by Don Bacon at December 12, 2006 09:05 AMBy delaying his New Plan to Screw Iraq until after New Year, Bush is signaling that he has no clue what it will be, other than it won't have much to do with the now thoroughly discounted ISG Report. His problem, as the poll numbers show, is that absolutely nothing he is inclined to do will have any effect on the public sentiment here at home. He is toast on Iraq. His handlers know it. That is why they might as well delay the next round of bad news until the Dems take over, when they can begin the REAL New Plan for Iraq, which is to blame the whole mess on the Dems.
If Bush wants to revive his poll numbers, all he has to do is pick up the phone, call the Pentagon and say these words "Have 50,000 troops begin redeployment out of Iraq now". Really pretty simple, huh?
So, Dubya is holding a sick, rabid wolf by the ears. Can't say as I fault anyone for not wanting to grab hold and relieve him of the chore. Couldn't happen to a more deserving fella. Too damn bad about all those people getting killed whilst he hangs on for dear life. Maybe once he extricates himself from this dilemma we should hang him for all the trouble he's caused.
Posted by steve duncan at December 12, 2006 09:12 AMSteve: The Decider and Shooter are really just giving us the finger....they don't give a damn about the ISG report....couldn't give a damn about Bush 41 and his circle of friends....these morons are like the fleeing bank robbers whose tires are flat and are running on the rims...they won't stop until the vehicle seizes...god only knows how many more senseless deaths will have happened by that time.....spreading Demo-crazy is hard work!
Posted by Goyo at December 12, 2006 09:15 AMJeeeeeeeeesus Christ look at that approval rating among Republicans. 23 points in 30 days!
That, in no uncertain terms, is a flaming meteor on the way down.
Steve Gilliard used to play the Battleship Bush game, which I always enjoyed.
After November screaming Harpoon missiles crashed into the forward turrets of the House and Senate, secondary explosions barely missing the forward magazine, multiple small fires licking at the blasted askew barrels. Donald Rumsfeld joined Scooter Libby as counted corpses slipped over the side.
Fires are raging everywhere, while just yesterday ten five inch rounds from the Republican base speared the ship, furious chattering surrender-monkey-haters vehemently promising more hits as they hissed away. After today is the waterline is rising fast, and the day is not over.
19 days until the New Year. A lot can happen in that time.
Posted by paradox at December 12, 2006 09:21 AMthe Bush Administration is working around al-Maliki anyway by building a coalition amongst the Kurds, the Sunnis, and the Iranian-backed SCIRI to marginalize him and Muqtada al-Sadr.
How clever of frat boy to go with the Iran-allied death-squad-commanding SCIRI alliance rather than the popular guy (al-Sadr) who could win an election tomorrow and is anti-Iran. Of course al-Sadr, like most of the Iraqis, wants us out of Iraq so he (and Maliki) are to be cut out. Good luck on that, chimp. Take a few more weeks to figure out how to do Maliki. Shoot him in the head in the back of an APC like we did Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon in '63? Or something more refined. Decisions, decisions.
More GIs to bleed and die in the sand over our oil.
Posted by Don Bacon at December 12, 2006 09:23 AMthat photo is a funny one. They look like either twin Sasquach's in suits or two guys who have just been caught doing something naughty in a public park.
Posted by T2 at December 12, 2006 09:29 AMHe's probably waiting for the 'Butcher's Bill' to hit 3,000 before he makes an announcement!
Posted by Seven of Six at December 12, 2006 09:35 AMThe Pentagon will make sure things get much, much worse.
War Is The Health of the State--Randolph Bourne
US Today, Today:
Generals: Bush level-headed in evaluating Iraq policy
WASHINGTON — President Bush, whose series of high-level meetings on Iraq includes a videoconference today with military leaders in Iraq, is "very engaged" and "very sober-minded" in the search for new policy ideas, according to two retired Army generals who met with him on Monday.
"I found him very engaged. I think he's looking for some answers, and the impression I had was there will be some changes," said retired Gen. Wayne Downing in an interview with NBC's Today show. "I think you're going to see some new things come out."
Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey said the president was "very sober-minded" and listened "intently to different views," including a difference of opinion among the former generals over the Iraq Study Group recommendation that most combat troops could be withdrawn from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008.
And in the WaPo:
President Bush heard a blunt and dismal assessment of his handling of Iraq from a group of military experts yesterday, but the advisers shared the White House's skeptical view of the recommendations made last week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, sources said.
The three retired generals and two academics disagreed in particular with the study group's plans to reduce the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq and to reach out for help to Iran and Syria, according to sources familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was private.
Posted by Don Bacon at December 12, 2006 09:42 AMJust think, there are somewhere near 750 more days left for Bush and Shooter to compound the blithering bungles, dropped balls and breathtaking incompetence that has been their signature since taking office.
Each advancing day will be a disaster drumbeat. Two more hurricane seasons are still on tap. If Afghanistan insurgency repeats its historical pattern, it will also get steadily worse there.
And the bleeding in Iraq will only continue. I wonder if the insurgency will pull its version of a Tet offensive in the near term and what is the correlation of all this to the share prices of big media hogs Fox, Viacom and so forth?
Posted by Chris Rich at December 12, 2006 10:24 AMWhile Iraq spirals more out of control,costing the U.S. public $8 billion/month, what has bush been doing?
on vacation
republican campaign appearances
spying on U.S. citizens
undermining the government
Prince Turki al-Faisal abruptly quits after 15 months on the job
Updated: 8:59 a.m. ET Dec 12, 2006
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, abruptly resigned his post after 15 months on the job and left the country, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing U.S. officials and foreign envoys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It'd be interesting to know the real story on the above.
At the news conference by Baker and Hamilton at the announcement of the ISG report, one of them stated that the release of the report took as long as it did because they didn't want it coming out before or during the November elections. It would look too "political." Now Bushmeat will delay the announcement of his "plan" until after the War on Christmas is over.
The dead have no use for politics, except maybe in Sartre novels and Bruckheimer movies. These ghouls in DC are merely worried about looking partisan while the bodies stack up higher and higher. (:>
Posted by Donald Cormac at December 12, 2006 10:44 AM"New Way Forward" indeed---it's actually "Worse Way Backward":
Flame an increasing level of violence between shi'ite factions who dominate an area where we currently have very few troops.
Move to marginalize the most popular shi'ite leader who had to be coaxed into the government in the first place.
Encourage the dumping of a prime minister that it took months of sectarian multi-party haggling to select.
Imbed American trainer-troops in Iraq "Army" units and "unleash" that "Army" on popular militias.
Continue to ignore the neighbors, and infuriate the Saudis to boot.
Groovy new strategery. Can't miss. The "government" will likely fall and the whole country will be up in arms by March. What about those supply lines, Mr 30%?
Posted by euzoius at December 12, 2006 10:57 AMGreat post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen this David Letterman clip with Our Fearless Leader in it, but its pretty funny--
www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com
since we are still having this conversation about the approval rating of a puppet whose handlers stole 2 elections, and not a president at all, but a criminal enterprise and a mob boss...
the approval rating thing is a joke. it should have been forcibly removed by secret service agents for willful acts of treason. if it were going to have happened, it would have.
and we are still waiting? something is far more wrong than we are being led to believe. baaaaa
Posted by oldtree at December 12, 2006 11:21 AMBS Bush: it never changes with this clown.
Just more Texas baloney, thick-sliced or thin-sliced, your choice: You're the Decider on this one.
All the new Congress has to do come January 20/21/22, 2007 is to repeal or cancel the original 2002 Congressional Authorization to use military force in Iraq. A simple majority is needed in both the House and the Senate. Once the original force authorization is cancelled, the occupation of Iraq will have to end immediately. Otherwise, Bush will be acting illegally and unconstitionally in any action to continue it.
This repeal of the original authorization will not be able to construed as "not supporting the troops." It will merely be ending their current assignment in Old Mesopotamia.
Cheers.
Posted by james k. sayre at December 12, 2006 11:25 AMTalk about in your face---No speech on "No Way Nowhere" till January after the ISG wise-men said the situation was deteriorating rapidly and that days could matter?
He definitely got the message!
Posted by euzoius at December 12, 2006 11:40 AMJust keep on sliding asshole. Paraguay is only a 9 hour flight away and you won't be missed 'round these parts.
Posted by Christopher at December 12, 2006 11:46 AMUnfortunately, life has taught the President to think, "If I do nothing, everything will turn out ok."
So he's sitting on his hands, and the extremists in Iraq--of both ethnicities--are gaining more and more power. The country needs him to lead, but he is incapable of leading. It's a pathetic situation.
Posted by Mike at December 12, 2006 12:28 PMCan there now be any reason NOT to impeach this pathetic puke?!
Posted by avenging_angel at December 12, 2006 12:38 PMTotal Dick, Freddo and the rest of this mad crew know their Iraq project is a "strategic disaster...of epic proportions" and although they're unsure of the exact meaning of those words it does have one component with which they're eminently familiar. Failure. Like everything else these two Monkey Boys and their jackass henchmen have got their hands on, it's a broken smoking wreck.
Soon the hearings will begin. A flurry of subpoenas will turn to a blizzard and these corporate tools will regret the day they were born. Their neoconservative chickenhawk consultants having long since slunk back to their stink tanks and parts unknown. The punditry turning their venom on them to slavage their own perfidious hides and once again come out on top. They won't be shown to be completely worthless though, you'll always find them useful as bad examples.
Where force fails, more force will probably also fail.
Legitimacy. Don't cross the border without it.
As in so much of life, in war the moral is to the material as three is to one.
New Slogan:
EVAQ IRAQ? YES!
see it at: www.cafepress.com/sarigraphics
Posted by LizDexic at December 12, 2006 01:10 PMTo make my first comment a little more clear:
Ending the Bush illegal criminal occupation on Iraq in January 2007:
All the new U. S. Congress has to do in January 2007 is to repeal/cancel the original Congressional Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243)(October 16, 2002). This action will end the occupation of Iraq immediately. It will pass with a majority vote in both the House and the Senate. After this repeal vote passes, Bush will have to immediately withdraw all the troops from Iraq or else be acting illegally and unconstitutionally. If he goes down that route, he will quickly be Impeached, Tried, Convicted and Removed from Office. Of course, VP Cheney should be Impeached, Tried, Convicted and Removed from Office first. Can you say President Pelosi?
This repeal of the original Congressional Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243)(October 16, 2002) will not be able to be construed as “not supporting the troops,” because it will merely be terminating the troops’ current assignment…
Yours truly,
James K. Sayre
12 December 2006.
162 words in the main text.
Cheney can only take a few seconds of sunlight before he bursts into flames. Run Dick Run, and your little Bush too.
Posted by mparker at December 12, 2006 01:48 PMCan't we just pick him up and carry him out of there?
Posted by sara swati at December 12, 2006 03:15 PMjames k. sayre, excellent plan. However, nothing and no one will change the course set in stone of this pResident. When will people get it? The only way to "change course" is to remove George Walker Bush II from office.
Posted by Judith at December 12, 2006 05:01 PMYeah, the Baker-Hamilton report is a bunch of nonsense, though. No real plan to deal with the problems in the area.
Q: How to achieve peace?
A: Lay down the weapons, and group hug everyone!
I don't think it'll work.
Posted by muckdog at December 12, 2006 10:28 PMIt's almost tragicomical to watch Bush (and Blair)play out their long goodbyes trying the while to stem the stench of failure which attends everything they touch. It would be funny if the context were not so grim. Blair has programmed an exit tour of events running up to the Summer, including TV slots on carefully selected programmes and personal appearances. It is toe curling. His aspiration of leaving a 'legacy' (other than his infernal alliance with the worst Western leader in modern history)is truly delusional. His monument, like Dubya's, will be a mountain of skulls in Iraq.
Posted by Mike at December 13, 2006 03:24 AMAs I mentioned a couple of days ago, we are now at 35,000 of those who have lost their lives or been wounded, and another 11,000 with psychological problems. Newsweek left out the latter in their statistics.
25,000 US Troops Dead Or Wounded In Iraq...
Newsweek | December 12, 2006 10:35 PM
From Newsweek:
Three years and nine months after the U.S.-led Coalition began its war against Saddam Hussein, researchers have quietly recorded another grim milestone in the cost of the conflict. American military casualties have now exceeded 25,000. Almost 3,000 U.S. soldiers are dead; 22,000 are injured. Some 245 other Coalition soldiers--mostly Brits--have also died, as well as at least 50,000 Iraqi civilians. Glenn Kutler, a researcher for the non-partisan iCasualties.org, has analyzed the patterns behind the numbers--and says he sees a conflict of gruesome logic and distinct phases.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/