Fear of Clowns

The goal of the "Iraq surge" was to give breathing room to Iraqi political leaders to find political reconciliation. Republicans are not claiming the surge has succeded.

Although violence is down, the mission has failed.

Labels: Bush White House, iraq, McCain, Republicans, war

// posted by Erik @ 7/17/2008 06:43:00 PM
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One of the flaws in the President's approach is to say that [Bush] is doing what General Petraeus tells him is the best thing to do; that's not the President's job, the President's job is to tell the general's what the mission is because you have to take the entire strategic interests of the United States in mind not just one particular front when it comes to our national interest. And so the mission I will set for our generals is to bring this war to a close.

Labels: 2008 elections, Bush White House, obama, war, YouTube

// posted by Erik @ 7/03/2008 10:35:00 PM
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The pussy.

Labels: 2008 elections, Bush White House, war, YouTube

// posted by Erik @ 7/03/2008 12:21:00 PM
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Via TPM .... well, just go get the link from Josh's introduction.

Labels: islam, right wingers, war

// posted by Erik @ 6/18/2008 10:49:00 PM
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The questioner asked, "I do not believe that one more soldier being killed every day is success. There were three U.S. soldiers killed today. I want to know, How long are we going to be there?" John McCain replied,

I can look you in the eye and tell you that those casualties tragically continue ... But they are much less, and they are dramatically reduced and we will eventually eliminate them.

To this, the questioner famously responded,

President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for fifty years.

McCain: Make it a hundred.

McCain's goal in Iraq is to stay until no Americans are being killed there. Which to anybody who's been paying attention means never and always. Under McCain, we will be in Iraq, ready to be killed forever.

Labels: 2008 elections, McCain, war

// posted by Erik @ 5/04/2008 02:18:00 AM
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Your guess as good as any.

Labels: 2008 elections, iraq, McCain, Republicans, terrorism, war

// posted by Erik @ 4/15/2008 09:55:00 PM
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Charlie Rose conducted an uncomfortable but enlightening interview with two Iraqis on the 5th anniversary of the invasion. The narrative in the US media has been to "Where did it go wrong?". This interview reminded me that 5 years ago, lots of us saw clearly that the whole adventure was a bad idea from the start.

Also here.

Labels: iraq, war

// posted by Erik @ 3/27/2008 01:02:00 AM
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Who can be against a war tax?

Top House Democrats Tuesday proposed a "war surtax" to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a plan quickly condemned by Republicans and opposed by the House leadership.

The surtax would be "a percentage of your tax bill," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wisconsin. "And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."

Why stop at a war tax? I'd love to see my tax contributions fleshed out.

• War .... 45% ($2250)
• Interest on debt .... 6% ($300)
• Education, disease prevention, environment, non-military scientific research, transportation, etc. .... < 5% ($250)

Labels: iraq, taxes, transportation, war

// posted by Erik @ 10/02/2007 08:18:00 PM
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Ruthless, bravo!

Labels: bill clinton, Republicans, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/26/2007 04:17:00 PM
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A good portion of the mercenaries we've hired to do Iraq are veterans. We give them the best training, they do their stint in the military and go to work for lavishly compensated private firms such as Blackwater. Lavish in the sense that the DoD is ostensibly not for profit in and of itself. Would it be fitting that the Department of Veterans Affairs would approve another religious symbol to mark theSE brave souls' broken bodies?

Dollar Sign by Andy Warhol, 1981, print available from ALLPosters.com.

Nobody keeps an official tally of dead mercenaries from this war that I know of. Dead mercinaries made the ultimate sacrifice carrying out their missions - same as our enlisted troops. Will they be seen as deserving the same solemn remembrance alongside the names of (actual) service members on future war memorials? I can think of no logical and compelling reason not to - their choice of employer doesn't change the fact that they died while willingly putting themselves at risk at our government's calling - but at the same it seems somehow obscene. Would they be listed under the headings Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas or DynCorp International, Blackwater Security, Halliburton?

Labels: corpocracy, iraq, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/20/2007 05:41:00 PM
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John Boehner of the Party Who Supports the Troops,

If 3,800 American lives and half a trillion dollars is a "small price", I shudder to think what we would be in for if Boehner was willing to make a modest investment.

Via Greg Sargent

Labels: conservatism, iraq, Republicans, terrorism, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/12/2007 07:55:00 PM
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From Lugar's opening statement today during Petreus and Crocker's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committe, expressing a thought I tried to articulate a few posts down,

One can debate, as many will do this week, whether progress in Iraq has been sufficient to justify continuing American sacrifices. But the greatest risk for U.S. policy is not that we are incapable of making progress, but that this progress may be largely beside the point given the divisions that now afflict Iraqi society. The risk is that our efforts are comparable to a farmer expending his resources and efforts to plant a crop on a flood plain without factoring in the probability that the waters may rise. In my judgment, some type of success in Iraq is possible, but as policy makers, we should acknowledge that we are facing extraordinarily narrow margins for achieving our goals.

Labels: iraq, richard lugar, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/11/2007 07:38:00 PM
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Given a choice between a world of nations controlled by corporations standing to lose profits from war between their client governments and a world in which nations went to war among one another willy-nilly, I'd in pick the corptocracy.

As far as that scenario provides, I'm in agreement with Bush's foreign policy. And I rather think Bush's War on Terror is driven at least in part by the contrast between those two choices.

However, those aren't the only two choices available and a military struggle between ideologies without territories is futile. By the administration's own admission "the terrorists won't stop with Iraq". Iraq is not an Iwo Jima no matter how much supporters of the war try to make it.

Labels: Bush White House, iraq, terrorism, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/10/2007 11:11:00 PM
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I can't take any more good news about progress in Iraq, I've had quite a bit enough already.

Early on. I recall the heroic effort to save Pvt. Lynch and the fantastic toppling of the statue of Hussein. Both staged propaganda events. Although the follow up act with Bush's flight suit and codpiece didn't pretend to be anything more than a theatrical production marking the end of major combat, any but the most casual observers had enough information to understand the White House and Pentagon's public relations communications had little to do with anything actually happening in Iraq.

Half a year ago there seemed to be wide agreement that September - this month - would be a time to frankly assess what political progress has made by the Iraqi government, with the benefit of three elections under it's belt.

Yet, all signs indicate the discussion is going to be over the bogus statistics describing violence or lack thereof - not the political progress or lack thereof. The statistics that matter are:

• Agreement regarding Iraq's oil revenue (0)
• Ability of Iraq to maintain its territorial integrity on its own (0)
• Ability of Iraq to deal with internal conflicts in a non-violent manner (0)

I'm sad to say there isn't enough Iraqi will to take advantage of our presence to work toward those types of goals. They don't want our help - in fact, we're an irritant. It's time to reduce our role to keeping Turkey, Iran and Iraq's other neighbors from injecting themselves into the mess militarily and preventing all-out genocide.

Labels: Bush White House, iraq, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/09/2007 05:53:00 PM
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I assume everyone who makes it to this blog is aware of the upcoming Bomb Iran marketing campaign, but there it is nonetheless.

Neither the Iranian or White House regime has much left to lose politically, and I can't think of anything scarier than a psychotic leader of the world's most lethal war machine finally acknowledging his deep unpopularity yet thinks his Big Vision will still be a hit with future historians. Except when he'd thinking about tussling with another unpopular regime that sees an opportunity for a repeat a humiliation of the military giant.

Having recently been dealt a Royal Flush on video poker, I think I can understand the temptation to gamble big when you're already in the hole - it's the irrational euphoria that problem gamblers seek, not the rationally unlikely payoff.

Labels: Bush White House, Iran, war

// posted by Erik @ 9/05/2007 11:38:00 AM
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