Bush Flip-Flops on Timetables

It's official. Condoleezza Rice has negotiated a draft agreement towards a timetable for withdrawl of US forces from Iraq. The draft calls for the removal of combat forces from cities by the end of June 2009, with all combat forces out by December 2011. Unfortunately, this agreement does leave a little room for so-called "residual" forces. Nevertheless, this is very encouraging news, as it will be good to have the majority of our troops home where they belong. This is, of course, a huge flip-flop for Bush. The administration has long made it clear that they view timetables for withdrawl as tantamount to surrender. Considering McCain thinks we need to stay in Iraq anywhere between 100 and 10,000 years I can only guess that he must've spontaneously combusted when he heard of this news.

It should be noted that the Bush administration has made a wise move here, so I will give credit where credit is due. However, it should be clear that this is a draft agreement so nothing is set in stone. In other words, in the unfortunate event of a McCain victory in November, he could throw this agreement out the window. Moreover, the Times article makes clear that the Americans and Iraqis have somewhat different interpretations of this agreement. In the end though, this is good news and it hopefully means that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the troops over in Iraq.

This ADORABLE photo was used courtesy of Flickr user soldiersmediacenter April 23, 2007

Doing the Right Thing

Via Matt Yglesias, I came across this article bearing good news for refugees of the Iraqi occupation. The efforts of Teddy Kennedy, human rights groups, and American soldiers have brought about a change in U.S. policy regarding Iraqi refugees. While the law passed in January, the American embassy in Baghdad recently announced that it has increased by ten times the amount of visas it is granting Iraqi citizens.

The program will allow 5,000 Iraqis to go to the United States for each of the next five years. Each person can take immediate family members, who include spouses and children. More distant relatives, including siblings, parents and grandchildren, can apply under another program. So the actual numbers emigrating will probably be considerably higher. The average Iraqi household is estimated to have about six people, according to officials from the International Organization for Migration.

This is extremely good news, as the burden has fallen disproportionately not only on Syria, Jordan, and other bordering countries whose cooperation we desperately need, but also on Scandanavian countries like Sweden that have taken in thousands of Iraqi refugees. Last year, the US only let in 500 Iraqis, mostly translators and other personnel that aided American efforts. It was morally contemptable that the US was so restrictive in refugee policy towards Iraqis; considering that they are fleeing a war that we brought upon them. However, this policy is a huge step in the right direction, and the US government should be commended for this change in course.

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user James Gordon November 22, 2007

The Media Delivers for St. McCain

Isn't it ironic (thanks for letting me borrow the line, Alanis) that on the very same day that the McCain campaign launches a new video decrying the media's coverage of Barack Obama; that CBS reveals once again just how in the tank the the press corps is for St. John McCain, King of Maverick. The sad part is, as Paul Krugman revealed during a panel discussion I attended at Netroots, most reporters (they don't deserve to be called journalists) and media organizations are notoriously thin-skinned. Therefore, McCain's calling them out on supposedly unfair coverage of the campaign may cut to the core. However, so far the media seems to be largely ridiculing this charge by McCain. This leads me to believe that I might be inhabiting some kind of alternate reality. Needless to say, however, the media's dedication to St. John, hero of humanity, is still alive and well; as seen in CBS' presentation of Katie Couric's interview with the King.

Despite any implicit or explicit media bias, McCain's comments are revealing on their own. They further demonstrate the King of Maverick's fundamental lack of understanding of even the most basic facts concerning the Iraqi occupation. As Spencer Ackerman points out in the post I linked to above, the Anbar Awakening (the cooperation of Sunni tribal leaders and their followers with the US military in the Anbar province west of Baghdad) came about before the surge. Therefore, for McCain to say that the surge allowed the Anbar Awakening to occur is just patently false. If you put this together with St. John's belief that Iraq and Pakistan border each other and his constant confusion of Sunni and Shia muslims, it becomes clear that the King of Maverick has absolutely no knowledge of Iraq. The only reason that McCain is perceived as a "serious" expert on national security and foreign policy is because he adores the use of military force. Unfortunately, the dominant media narrative celebrates and rewards those that believe military force is the first and only option availabe to US presidents.

Photo via Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo.

In a just world

Spencer Ackerman has a great post concerning the Iraqi government's desire to negotiate a timetable for withdrawl of US troops from the country. An Iraqi spokesman even said that the pullout could be completed by 2011 or 2012, which is consitent with the Obama plan. Now this presents and unprecedented oppurtunity for Obama to absolutely hammer McCain on Iraq. McCain has said in the past, as has George W. Bush, that if the Iraqis ask us to leave (or establish a timetable for an eventual pullout) we must do so. Ackerman has a brilliant idea as well, Obama should challenge McCain to endorse a timetable:

If he accepts, he's a flip-flopper; if he declines, he's an imperialist. There's no downside here.

Exactly! Even McCain's pious followers in the media would have trouble spinning a development such as this. Let's hope the Obama campaign has the balls to do it!

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user strader July 25, 2006

It's All About the Oil

I don't have much to add to this article by Andrew Kramer appearing in the New York Times. It seems that adding additional commentary would take away from what is already apparent. If you find this surprising, read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine for an in-depth look at the often fatal intersection of war and the free market.

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user BenLikesPictures September 9, 2007

Surged

As most of you probably know, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassodor Ryan Crocker are giving an update this week before Congress on the progress (or, in truth, lack thereof) in post-surge Iraq. Considering the fact that I'm at work, I have not been able to pay very close attention to the testimony so far. However, I have been checking in from time to time with Dana Goldstein over at TAPPED and Spencer Ackerman over at the Independent Streak (the Washington Independent's blog) who are both liveblogging the events. Based off what I've read thus far, both Petraeus and Crocker are, for the most part, saying conditions in Iraq are much improved from the pre-surge era. Interestingly enough (however, unsurprising) both Petraeus and Crocker are referring to al-Qaeda in Iraq as simply al-Qaeda, despite the fact that these are two disparate groups. You think that's good, just wait 'til they get more into the Iran stuff! You should also check out Matt Yglesias's article, which is up on the American Prospect site about the testimony. It provides crucial context and has great suggestions for where the Democrats should go from here.

Know Nothings for President!

Matt Yglesias linked to a very disturbing item from ThinkProgress. St. McCain, which the media assures us is very experienced in foreign policy and national security politics, claims that Moqtda al-Sadr influence has been decreasing for some time. This is yet another example of John McCain's complete detachment from reality. As McClatchy's Leila Fadel reported last Sunday in a superbly well written and well reported article that Nouri al Maliki, the prime minister, basically asked for the ceasefire and it was largely negotiated by an Iranian general. This isn't McCain mispeaking, this is McCain misknowing, if you will. As Yglesias says in his post, McCain has no idea. Yet another sad commentary on McCain's supposed foreign policy expertise and the media that are so quick to laud his bogus credentials.

Five Years

I realize now that I neglected to mention in my previous post that today marks the 5th year anniversay of the Iraq war. Nearly 4,000 Americans have died and thousands upon thousand more have been greviously wounded, many of those individuals have likely suffered permanent damage. I would be remiss not to mention that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have also been killed in the ensuing violence. Frankly there isn't much that I can say that I haven't articulated before in previous posts to this blog. There is no doubt that the war in Iraq has been one of the largest foreign policy blunders in American history. The fact that hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost or permanently altered, both American and Iraqi, in a war that was predicated on lies is a tragedy beyond my comprehension. I simply do not posess the ability to transcribe into words the profound sadness I feel whenever I think of the war.

I suppose what I could reflect upon on this 5-year anniversary is what I've personally learned over the past 5 years. In a way, I've finally understood how meaningless war is. The fact that countries (not just the U.S.) resort to violence and killing to solve problems or to reach a stated goal is a particularly barbaric reality. I can understand when wars are fought in self-defense; as it is necessary for one entity to respond appropriately to another that is trying to destroy it. I can also understand when war is necessary to stop regimes such as the Nazis or the Japanese Empire. These enemies were hell bent on killing millions simply because said millions were different from them, or because they occupied a territory that the aggressor desired. Enemies like this can seldom be reasoned with and war becomes a necessity rather than a means to an end. However, we should never go to war unless we've exhausted every other avenue that might lead to a peaceful resolution. This did not occur in Iraq. There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but he could have been dealt with had the UN been given the time and resources it needed. We should've exhaustively considered the consequences of our invasion. It's clear now that our government either was not aware, or more likely did not care about, the violent tensions between the Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish peoples of Iraq. It's also clear that there are those in our goverment whom to this day still don't understand the complicated ethnic and religous divisions within Iraq, John McCain chief among them.
I've learned that sometimes we are too quick to strike. We let our anger and our ignorance consume us, and rationality is left by the wayside. I believe that this is what happened with Iraq. 9/11 was still fresh in our minds and too many of us supported a war simply because we bought into the Bush Administration's lies that Saddam Hussein was partially responsible for the attacks on American soil.
I've learned that in times of crisis we often equate patriotism with supporting whatever the government does. We forget that one of the core principles of our democracy is our freedom to criticize our own government when we think it is wrong. Indeed the patriotism that existed after 9/11 through the first year of the Iraq war more closely resembled nationalism. Nationalism is a truly dangerous sentiment. It leads us to believe that we are superior to others, that we know what is best for other people. I consider myself a patriot, I love my country, but I am no nationalist.
I've learned that sometimes being a patriot isn't good enough. If your against the war you get questions like this: why don't you support the troops? Don't you know that your opposition helps the terrorists? Why do you hate America? I believe that we are better than this and that we have already begun to move past this. Unfortunately there are those in positions of power such as George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, and Joe Lieberman that will probably never understand this, and that is too bad for them.

This post/note should not be read as a mea culpa or a condemnation of anyone. It is simply my reflection over the past 5 years of war. I think we have all learned a lot and hopefully we have all emerged from this experience as better individuals. I suppose only time can tell. It is clear that war is terrible. Even when a war is successful there are many that are left dead and many of those that survive do so with lives that are for all practical purposes destroyed. It is true that there are those that return from war as better people. I would be remiss to deny such a thing. However the fact that so many lose so much as a result of such senseless violence is a calmity of the human condition.

St. John the Idiotic

Yet more evidence that John McCain is a complete moron: he said yesturday in Jordan that it is "common knowledge" that Iran is training al-Qaeda operatives in Iran. Wait a minute...what? See, I was under the impression that Iran was a Persian country full of Shia muslims; whereas al-Qaeda is a terrorist group dominated by Arabs that also happen to be muslims of the Sunni sect. Why would Persian Shiites aid Arab Sunnis? Once again, my impression was that these two demographics have been in conflict with each other for upwards of a thousand years. Look, Iran is not exactly our biggest ally, nor should they be, but to say that they are training al-Qaeda operatives or even working in anyway with al-Qaeda is simply ludicrous. It would be like saying that the Orange Order and the IRA were banding together to expell the British from Northern Ireland. That just wouldn't happen. It's even more disturbing that the media is calling it a gaffe. As Max Bergmann writes at Democray Arsenal:

Many in the media seem willing to dismiss McCain's statement that Iran is training Al Qaeda as a simple slip of the tongue. This is wrong. McCain did NOT misspeak. If he had simply made the statement once, he could perhaps expect to be given a pass.
But he didn't just say Iran was training Al Qaeda once. He said it in his initial statement. He was then asked about it in a follow up question where he repeated it. It is not a simple slip of the tongue if when challenged on the "slip" you then. [He also repeated it on Hugh Hewitt's radio show] That is not a gaffe. That is called believing something that isn't true. It is called being confused. And being confused about the differences between Shia and Sunni when claiming that you should be elected president of the United States on your foreign policy knowledge and experience, is simply not okay. This is a big deal.

Indeed, this is a very big fucking deal! This is a very disturbing occurence. There are two possibilities here:

1. John McCain believes that al-Qaeda is being trained by Iran. In this circumstance that is quite alarming and I agree with Matt Yglesias: perhaps John McCain isn't really paying much attention to what is happening in Iraq.
2. McCain know that Iran and al-Qaeda are not in league but he is willing to lie about it anyway, IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF MUSLIMS IN JORDAN!

Look, I understand I'm biased and I obviously am not a fan of John McCain, but this is a truly dangerous situation. McCain doesn't know squat about the economy (by his own admission), taxes, healthcare, or really any other important domestic policy issue. Apparently, he also knows very little about foreign policy and national security (his professed strengths). Now, I know you may be thinking, "give me a break Scott, this is just one time!" Yes, this is just a single occurence, but if he doesn't understand the difference between Shia and Sunni muslims, and the shaky dynamic between the Persian and Arab ethnicities; then in reality everything he thinks he knows about the Middle East and the Arab world is probably wrong. This is stunningly idiotic. I hope for the sake of this country and this planet we elect either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to the presidency over this know-nothing fanatic.

When Facts Get in the Way

Warren Strobel has got an article about a Pentagon-sponsored report tomorrow that proclaims that Saddam Hussein had no link to al Qaida. This is, of course, fairly common knowledge these days but the report is based off of review of captured documents and interrogation of thousands of former Iraqi government officials.

I wish I had more to say on this, but it's just so unbelievably obvious that the war in Iraq has been a meaningless one from the get go. Thousands of American soldiers have died and tens of thousands have returned home permanently maimed. It should also be mentioned that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died. This is all just too sad to put into words.

I hope George W. Bush, John McCain, and the Republican party are proud of all they've accomplished in the name of fighting terror.