Wheeeeeeeee!
All right! More proof that the surge is working (my emphasis):
Official: Report will say none of Iraq’s goals met
A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration’s reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.
One likely result of the report will be a vastly accelerated debate among President Bush’s top aides on withdrawing troops and scaling back the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Are you kidding? Staring in the face of total failure only convinces the Bushies that they were right all along! We’ve seen it happen again and again and again, kids. Don’t delude yourselves into thinking this will be any different.
The “pivot point” for addressing the matter will no longer be Sept. 15, as initially envisioned, when a full report on Bush’s so-called “surge” plan is due, but instead will come this week when the interim mid-July assessment is released, the official said.
“The facts are not in question,” the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft is still under discussion. “The real question is how the White House proceeds with a post-surge strategy in light of the report.”
I’ll tell you precisely how they’re going to proceed: by giving you the finger. Then the next day the New York Post will run a headline calling y’all a buncha Surrender Va-jay-jays. And thousands more people will die before Bush leaves office in 2009. It’s how these people operate.
The report, required by law, is expected to be delivered to Capitol Hill by Thursday or Friday, as the Senate takes up a $649 billion defense policy bill and votes on a Democratic amendment ordering troop withdrawals to begin in 120 days.
Also being drafted are several Republican-backed proposals that would force a new course in Iraq, including one by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., that would require U.S. troops to abandon combat missions. Collins and Nelson say their binding amendment would order the U.S. mission to focus on training the Iraqi security forces, targeting al-Qaida members and protecting Iraq’s borders.
“My goal is to redefine the mission and set the stage for a significant but gradual drawdown of our troops next year,” said Collins.
Nope. Not gonna happen. Bush will flip you the bird again. Impeach the SOB so he’ll at least know you mean business.
Now here comes the cherry on top: the White House spin!
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on Monday tried to lower expectations on the report, contending that all of the additional troops had just gotten in place and it would be unrealistic to expect major progress by now.
“You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something,” Snow said. “I’m not sure everyone’s going to get an ‘A’ on the first report.”
In Tony Snow’s world, getting 0% of the questions right on the exam translates to a B+.
Look, guys, Bush will never listen to you. Just impeach him. I’ll even get the drumbeat rolling for you:
SHAREEEEEEEF DON’ LIKE IT!!!!!
The thing that bothers me about the Whitehouse spin is not just the shere idiocy of it, but the fact that anything that Tony Snow says is taken seriously. What should be mandatory for the gaggle is a laugh track.
You know Tony, putting on some clown makeup, a BIG orange wig, and throwing glitter at the reporters would really add to your credibility in this situation.
and that one’s for Tito Menchaca, playing tha Shareef in tha video.
Viva la Raza en Austin, amigo.
Oh and a Horn, don’t forget the horn!
Snow is just amazing – he makes you long for the lucidity and openess of Scott McClellan. The very definition of supercilious and condescending – if anyone in the press room had an iota of self respect they would walk out.
The fact is that the surge isn’t working is proof that the surge is working.
Ask Holy Joe, he tell you the tr00th.
No, wait, it’s working fine. Why just look over here!
Umm, that’s blood.
Ok, yeah, that’s blood. Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs right? Look over there.
Umm, that’s blood too.
Dammit. Well, we’re going to expect some sacrifice. How ’bout this?
Tony, that’s blood. And body parts.
Uh, well, it looks like it, but its not. Come over here.
I can’t. It’s too slippery. All the blood……
Well trust me. From here, I can see things getting better.
Really? Even with all the blood?
Yeah, really. The surge is working. Why, just look [BAM] um, hang on.
What happened Tony.
Can’t tell. Too much blood. Come back tomorrow, ok?
mikey
“The report, required by law…”
Ya see, gotch’er problem right dere. All da preeveeyus lawz didn’t require nothin’. If dis Congress would jes fix dat, like the other Congresses did, we’d not have dis problem. Mission acodpiece!
you know where things started going wrong? when MTV refused to mandate armadillos in EVERY music video.
Why does anyone attend the fucking press briefings? He never says anything.
What would happen if Tony Snow came down for a press briefing and no one was there?
That’d be cool.
What enterprising reporters should do is multimedia: hold up a laptop or a tape-player and say “you said this, here it is on tape”. Why hasn’t this happened yet?
Kathleen said,
July 10, 2007 at 4:12
you know where things started going wrong? when MTV refused to mandate armadillos in EVERY music video.
This old fogey remembers watching MTV, because they played music videos. Then they stopped doing that. Back in the nineties, or some such?
RighteousB,
That’s what Timmeh and Chrissy Matthews and all the other TeeVee talkingheads are supposed to do. But, they don’t
One hundred years ago, there were one hundred newspapers in every city–all with an agenda. The internet has re-introduced equality to the discourse.
Viva la Difference!
(pardon my French–I don’t have a clue…ask me about my Thai language course…I have a brochure….)
Senator Brownback was never for the surge. But he’s not in favor of surrender, either. I guess that makes him a moderate. Even far left moonbats would find something to like about the nomination of Brownback.
President Brownback sounds pretty good too. Giuliani? Romney? Obama? Clinton II: Electric Bugaboo? Forget about it!
Even far left moonbats would find something to like about the nomination of Brownback.
Yes, indeedy, Psycheout.
This far left moonbat would enjoy the much deserved compleat destruction of the ChickenHawk partay that would follow the nomination of Senator Brownback (and as is traditional, I recommend ex-Senator Santorum as Brownback’s running mate).
Keep up the good work, I believe you are still swimming undercover.
I’ll tell you precisely how they’re going to proceed: by giving you the finger.
What I want to know is when will this finally dawn on the press? I want to watch their heads explode when it does.
What enterprising reporters should do is multimedia: hold up a laptop or a tape-player and say “you said this, here it is on tape”. Why hasn’t this happened yet?
Because that wouldn’t perfeshonal behavior don’t ya know. They gots teh standards. And those standards can be summed in one phrase “never break the frame” followed by “more tongue please”.
“I’m not sure everyone’s going to get an ‘A’ on the first report.”
We’re still on our first try in Iraq, huh? Sheeeesh.
No, not everyone’s going to get an A on the first report. But not everyone has the assistance of the strongest military in the world backing them up and three-and-a-half years to do their goddamn homework.
All they have to do to get an A on the first report is pass the legislation in the Iraqui parliament that gives Western oil companies carte blanche over the oil fields and then….ta da! The Surge is a Success!!! Yes, people. It is THAT easy.
Iraqi parliament. (Gotta stop being so…..western!)
g said,
July 10, 2007 at 4:19
“Why does anyone attend the fucking press briefings? He never says anything.
What would happen if Tony Snow came down for a press briefing and no one was there?
That’d be cool.”
On the other hand, gentlemen; suppose we held a press conference, and EVERYBODY came?
“Psycheout said,
July 10, 2007 at 5:41
Senator Brownback was never for the surge. But he’s not in favor of surrender, either. I guess that makes him a moderate.”
Wow. I never knew that “sitting on your hands and hoping no one notices you’re playing political CYA” makes you a “moderate”.
And “President Brownback” sounds like a black, anal pornstar’s name.
benchmarks – skidmarks – what’s the difference?
What enterprising reporters should do is multimedia: hold up a laptop or a tape-player and say “you said this, here it is on tape”. Why hasn’t this happened yet?
I saw a Daily Show where that almost happened. Jon Stewart showed two clips of Snow, one from March and one from June, talking about the AG firings. In the March clip, Snow clearly says that the firings were based on poor performance. In the June clip — well after it became widely known that the fired AGs had good performance ratings — some offscreen reporter says to Snow, “Tony, you’re on camera saying these firings were performance-based…” and before he can get any further Snow says, point-blank, “No, we never said anything like that.”
I suspect that if the reporter had actually held up a laptop showing that March clip, (a) Snow would have denied it entirely anyway and (b) the gaggle would have been hit with a freak EMP, frying all the equipment in the room. And (c) the reporter would have received a special invitation to interview Vice President Cheney, and would never have been seen again.
“You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something,” Snow said. “I’m not sure everyone’s going to get an ‘A’ on the first report.”
Fuck yeah, when you’ve had four years to study, a tutor come in (the ISG, to extend the analogy) AND are spending 12 billion dollars a month on the subject, you should be graded on a curve, damn straight.
If you think the press briefings are bad now, I have read that when they move into the Super Awesome Shiny New press room, Snow will have a couple of big teevee monitors behind him. All the better to display shiny pennies with which to distract the media.
It will propagan-tastic!
Wasn’t that on the Playboy channel? Or was it a very special episode of Blossom?
Big surprise, the C-student President’s trying to appeal to the bad test-takers.
Nuh-uh, Sadly No Brad! Fox News just told me that some progress was shown in the report. Get your facts straight!
If the Iraq War were golf, we’ve given the Bushies about a half trillion mulligans and they are STILL in the sand trap on the first hole.
The only way this madness will end is if kids stop enlisting in the military.
“GET PISSED, DON’T ENLIST!”
How’s that for an anti-war mantra? The right wing has been bragging about the brilliance of TEH Volunteer Military for so long, isn’t it about time we shut it down by not joining up?
(Of course, what you’d see is Repubs suddenly getting all lovie-dovie with the gazillion Mexican illegals they hate so much, giving them amnesty and trading them green cards for military service. [Shorter Lou Dobbs: “I’m sorry, Jose, now stop mowing lawns/washing dishes/cleaning toilets and join the Marines!”])
What I want to know is when will this finally dawn on the press?
Are you familiar with the expression ‘heat death of the universe’?
Right after that.
Or a little later.
I think it is very important to point out at this juncture that Michael Moore is Fat, and CNN does run Sicko commercials and thus achieves journalistic balance with their corperate sponsorship.
My idea: the press should (with great ceremony) hand over their press passes and credentials to a selected group of high school kids who work on the school newspapers. From all over the country, etc. Let THEM bombard Snow with questions he won’t answer.
On the other hand, having a laff track is sublime. Maybe once a week the press votes on who, among them, gets to work it. God damn it, why can’t I have great ideas like that?
First, I’ll agree with the premise that anybody who enlists in the American Armed Forces today is either very desparate or a complete idiot. The American Armed Forces have been co-opted by a bunch of civilians who have no idea what they are good at, what to use them for, and when to bring them home.
But then came this:
The right wing has been bragging about the brilliance of TEH Volunteer Military for so long…
Actually, we’ve ALL been bragging about the brilliance of the volunteer military. Many of us have seen the oscenely shitty performance and the corresponding cost in lives of a conscript army. Now many of you know I’m not a big fan of “Support our Troops”, it’s a smokescreen many scumbags hide behind when they can’t win the argument on the merits. But, as they say, you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
The US Armed Forces since the 1980s integration and development of combined arms doctrine is the most powerful military force on the planet, capable of missions that no other force has ever even been able to consider. But what they’re good at is breaking things and hurting people. And when you take those people and give them a mission like the occupation of a hostile persian gulf nation, well, they’re going to fail. It’s not what they do. It’s not something they KNOW HOW to do. It’s very likely something that CANNOT BE DONE.
If you have the best road building crew on the planet, but you tell them they now have to teach high school, they are going to fail. It’s not something they can possibly succeed at. So in fairness, let’s not kick those folks in uniform around a whole bunch, but put the blame where the blame belongs…
mikey
After the Surge, we’ll make another Fresh Start, but will lose it All before we realize there’s nothing to Gain. Eventually, we’ll Wisk away, Cheer, and go Surf. It’ll be Fab.
After the Surge, we’ll make another Fresh Start, but will lose it All before we realize there’s nothing to Gain. Eventually, we’ll Wisk away, Cheer, and go Surf. It’ll be Fab.
Fantastik!
But only if the Tide is right…
‘Cause what we really need is a strong detergent against terrorism…
mikey
The right wing has been bragging about the brilliance of TEH Volunteer Military for so long, isn’t it about time we shut it down by not joining up?
downside of that is they’ll just extend the tours of the people already there. Again. And again.
Maybe we’ll all get hit by a Comet.
Is it feeding the troll when you know the troll is actually not a troll, but a troll poser? Do troll posers like pie, or are they more into veggie dogs? Not Dogs?
‘Cause what we really need is a strong detergent against terrorism…
We can’t scrub the mission now.
Shorter Straight Talk McCain (Teh Maverick): “I’m just back from my latest inspection of Baghdad markets, and I can report that Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.”
Maybe we’ll all get hit by a Comet.
Tony Snow announced today that the Bush Administration considers the smoking crater in the side of the Earth proof that the surge is working. He took the opportunity to announce that President Bush would seek a fifth term in office, considering it his “dooty to hiztery” to run since the Roberts Supreme Court ruled that the Bush v. Gore precedent prohibits anyone from running against him ever.
Actually, we’ve ALL been bragging about the brilliance of the volunteer military.
Please define the “WE” of which you speak; is that you, the mouse in your pocket, and the large amount of voices you hear in your head? While I agree an all-volunteer military is more professional and “kick-ass” as you claim, it is also less democratic in nature, which makes it far more dangerous in the long run. Not everyone agrees with your sentiment that an all-volunteer force is the most effective and egalitarian way to build a military in a free democratic society. I served in the all-volunteer military during the Cold War, and I wasn’t convinced it was the best means of building a fighting force. And I know lots of people who agree.
I think it’s anti-democratic to have an all-volunteer military, even if conscription diminishes the overall effectiveness of the military mission, which hasn’t really been proven, since conscription in America during Vietnam—when conscription really got a bad rap—was much different than in WW II, when conscription was largely successful and the pool of young men who were drafted came from every level and class in our society, as opposed to ‘Nam, where deferments starved the military of too many of our best and brightest, and greatly diminshed the sense of a shared responsibility in waging that war.
An all-volunteer military absolves us of a true shared—make that democratic—responsibility in waging war and creates an almost mercenary-like military force that no longer represents the population of a democracy as a whole. Not having this shared responsibility at all levels of society insulates most people from the ravages of warfare and makes it easier to wage war—like today—without having much of an effect on the general population. By not sharing the responsibility we no longer share the pain and sacrifice. How would our attitude have been in America about invading Iraq if we had a universal draft? I am sure fewer people would have supported it.
Conscription wasn’t a failure in Vietnam. Both the ill-run conscription system and the war itself were the failures. The biggest failure of the conscription system was filtering conscription to exclude most college bound-men during Vietnam, which to me reeked of class warfare. Poor and working class dudes were drafted, while most college-bound middle and upper class kids got a free pass from the fight. Plus the war itself was an illegal and amoral mess, which made even the most hardened volunteer professional soldiers question its validity and morality by the end of it. The conscripts of course didn’t want to fight for a cause that was muddy at best, a senseless and horrific nightmare at worst.
So I am sorry, Mikey, I beg to differ with your views (and I know lots of people who agree with me), for entirely different reasons than the ones you presented. Sure, an all-volunteer force is more professional and more “kick-ass,” but it is also FURTHER REMOVED from the citizenry for which it has been assigned to protect sever. That to me is dangerous in a democracy. When we no longer share the responsibility for a cause, sometimes the cause becomes less responsible.
I apologize for hogging this thread.
Two things I was absolutely sure would happen, but did not:
1. Lots and lots of “Saddam’s WMDs” would be found once the war was underway and our troops had made it to various remote areas of the country.
2. There would be a sudden terror threat or attack that would necessitate “postponing” the ’04 election.
#2 was, I guess, alarmism on my part. I still don’t understand why #1 never happened. It sure would have smoothed things out for the Pres.
Yikes, I mean to say “…protect and serve.” Not sever. Yikes that would hurt.
Those are great points, mat. And thought provoking. I wasn’t speaking to the democratic or societal concerns, merely to the relative effectiveness of a military unit. For the record, I will always be against a draft, but I don’t necessarily disagree with anything you said.
If you found yourself in combat, you’d rather have professional soldiers on your flanks than draftees, but that doesn’t really address your issues.
I guess one would hope that voluteers would take their oaths to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same“, but we’ve learned that people can and do ignore/disregard their oaths.
It’s a thorny problem. Much of the solution would be for the US to move to a much less militarized society with a much smaller volunteer force. Spending a third of our budget on the armed forces is stupid, wasteful and utterly unsustainable. But since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, perhaps a compulsery national service solution should be considered. But the cynic in me anticipates that any system would come with built-in loopholes that could be gamed by the scions of wealth and priviledge…
mikey
Yeah Doc, I had those same fears. One of the reasons I don’t buy into many conspiracy theories is this administration has shown time and again they they really are as fucking stooopid as they seem to be.
I mean, my god take a look at this woman, former White House staffer Sara Taylor. Could she manage anything more involved than a backyard BBQ? I doubt it.
http://static.firedoglake.com/2007/07/02taylor.jpg
(yeah, it’s wrong to link to pics off site, but I didn’t know how else to do it.)
I guess one would hope that voluteers would take their oaths to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same“, but we’ve learned that people can and do ignore/disregard their oaths.
Oh, I think they do, Mikey. It’s their civilian leaders who disregard this oath more than the troops. I wrote extensively about this concerning the Iran-Contra scandal here (http://www.geocities.com/rangerhiq/journal05092007.html).
The problem with an all-volunteer force is that it hasn’t been tested during a period where we’re immersed in one or more long-term conflicts simultaneously. Of course, that was until now, where are are, and have been for four years now, and the system is showing signs of breaking. How many more times can career soldiers serve multiple 15-month tours in a combat zone before they burn out? And what if we cannot get enough fresh recruits to serve?
For instance, much fewer African-Americans are enlisting in the last year than in the previous five. And I imagine as the war becomes more and more unpopular, most everyone else will follow suit. Then what?
The all-volunteer concept worked great during peacetime or when our conflicts (like Gulf War I) were short.
We are treading in new water now. This will ultimately test the effectiveness of the all-volunteer concept.
In Tony Snow’s world, getting 0% of the questions right on the exam translates to a B+.
Well, in Tony Snow’s (Republican) world, it does. Only the lower classes have to actually work at stuff. Or be good at stuff to pass or get ahead.
The all-volunteer concept worked great during peacetime or when our conflicts (like Gulf War I) were short.
Or, to put it another way, when they were used correctly. Occupation forces need numbers and local acceptance. To use these guys as an occupation force is what LED to them being overextended and on multiple tours.
No matter how we might feel about the invasion of Iraq, they won that war in a couple weeks. Once again, that was their job. 4 and a half years later its a huge disaster…
mikey
Or, to put it another way, when they were used correctly. Occupation forces need numbers and local acceptance. To use these guys as an occupation force is what LED to them being overextended and on multiple tours.
How odd: I wrote about this very thing in August 2002 on my blog. I wrote that
A) Our post-Cold War Army is not designed to perform constabulary (military policing and occupation) duties like the one we had in the 80s, which had large numbers of military police battalions designed specifically for that duty. We dismounted these types of units long ago.
B) I also wrote in that same essay that we’d be occupying a country where the cultural gulf between the occupier and occupied would be much greater than even in Vietnam, which would make occupying Iraq nearly impossible given the problems associated with A & B.
But of course writing anything opposing the invasion in 2002 made me a traitor and America-hating scumbag. Being right has proven to be painful for me.
FU Hon. Dr. St. Rev. Rocket!
FU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is typical liberal obtuseness. At this stage of the Iraq surge, the important political groundwork is occurring at the local level with municipal/tribal/provincial governments. Enormous progress is being made there as evidenced by what is occurring in Anbar and Diyala provinces. Political progress at the Iraqi federal level is sure to follow at a later stage.
Y’know, silly propagandist, many of the people on this blog KNOW what’s going on and understand what the real strategic and tactical concerns are. And you’re imaginary crap is not going to have much of an impact. Have you ever heard of Little Green Stupid? They will embrace your phantasies and welcome you as the lost prodigal son. Go there. Now. And bite me….
mikeyh
This is typical liberal obtuseness.
I don’t get it.
If it was unrealistic to expect the targets to be met, why were those the targets?
This is not lowering expectations, this is totally redefining them after the fact.
“Ignore the three and half years before those extra ~20,000 troops showed up. “Teh SURgE” will fix everything and then NATURALLY the National government politicos will see their folly and gather for a group hug. So just keep clapping and I promise that PIG WILL FLY!”
It must be a true blessing to be able disconnect from Reality with such ease.
#2 was, I guess, alarmism on my part. I still don’t understand why #1 never happened.
The only consolation with this bunch is that, evil as their intentions are, they’re so fucking incompetent that they couldn’t even fake WMDs. They fucking lost the Weapons of non-Mass Destruction that Saddam had, and let the insurgents take them.
that’s some serious incompetence.
My question is, when do we get TEH Doughy Pantload Surge in Iraq? If the current Teh SURgE fails, then we must conclude, since Bush is NEVER to blame, then it MUST MEAN those goddman lazy troops in Iraq just flat-out suck! So let’s gather up those Battered Bastards of the right blogosphere and send them off to win, because after four years, they sure seem to be the only True Believers left in Amercia! Onward Charles Johnson, Jonah Goldberg, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Glenn Reynolds, Jeff Goldstein, Captain Ed, John Hindraker, onward to Iraq for VICTORYYYYYYYY!
(Giggle)…
Hello.
Would you be willing to spread the word about http://www.draftresistance.org? It’s a site dedicated to shattering the myths surrounding the selective slavery system and building mass civil disobedience to stop the draft before it starts.
Our banner on a website, printing and posting the anti-draft flyer or just telling friends would help.
Thanks!
Scott Kohlhaas
PS. When it comes to conscription, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!