Via Andrew Sullivan, Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Advisor, delivered a blistering analysis today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: It is time for the White House to come... [More]
February 1, 2007
BREAKING: Hell to Resume Delivereies of Icewater. Bush Admits He Lied About War.
Carpetbagger: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Bush acknowledged that as early as “September/October” 2006, he realized a major change was needed in Iraq: WSJ: Was there... [More]
An Intriguing Question (Updated)
Josh Marshall asks: if it turns out the culprits behind the Najaf raid were not Iranian-trained but US-trained, should we attack ourselves? Why does he ask? Fox News reports, you... [More]
Connecting The Dots of the Fiasco
As I was walking to the bus this morning and reading my copy of the New York Times, a thought occurred to me.... For months we have been reading about... [More]
Molly Ivins: Right on Iraq
Via E+P: NEW YORK In his Friday column for The New York Times, Paul Krugman pays tribute to fellow liberal Molly Ivins, who passed away Wednesday. In the process, he... [More]
"Meaningful" Lessons
WaPo: A long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, presented to President Bush by the intelligence community yesterday, outlines an increasingly perilous situation in which the United States has little control... [More]
February 2, 2007
Asking All The Right Questions About Iraq
Garance Franke-Ruta over at Tapped asks all the right questions about the latest news from Iraq: Some would argue that America has a moral obligation to stay in order to... [More]
Worse Than a Civil War (With Multiple Updates)
In case you missed it.... The judgement of the entire US intelligence community: The Intelligence Community judges that the term “civil war” does not adequately capture the complexity of the... [More]
How To Make 16,000 American Soldiers Disappear
Their depravity knows no bounds. Statistics on a Pentagon Web site have been reorganized in a way that lowers the published totals of American nonfatal casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.... [More]
DNC Winter Meeting: Edwards Hits A Home Run
I haven't watched the speech yet, but the transcript is phenomenal. Forget an excerpt. Here it is in its entirety. From the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting in Washington, DC,... [More]
A Simple Analogy
T.A. Frank simplifies for us: So I visit a rundown zoo and see hyenas in miserable cages, lions in miserable cages, and antelopes in miserable cages. I'm disgusted by their... [More]
February 5, 2007
When In Doubt, Run...
Apparently Sen john Sununu, the Republican Senator from New Hampshire, thinks that should be the new motto for his state. Or something... WaPo: When Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) saw... [More]
If It Fails, Blame The Dems
The Weekly Standard: "If the surge is seen to fail, [Democrats] will be the ones who made it more difficult, demoralized the armed forces, kneecapped the commander, and telegraphed to... [More]
Hitch Lays Down a Challenge
In what is otherwise a pretty decent column, Christopher Hitchens says the following: If there is a sectarian war in Iraq today, or perhaps several sectarian wars, we have to... [More]
February 6, 2007
While The Senate Stalls, Obama Leads
Via Atrios, news from Obama's office just in. The emphasis is mine. Obama, Thompson and Murphy Introduce Plan to De-Escalate and End the War in Iraq Senator Barack Obama Along... [More]
The Economist Lays The Smackdown on Bush's Freedom Agenda
From their Democracy in America blog: FOUR recent articles remind us of the wildly complex Middle East into which America has charged: The Saudis are reasserting their regional role to... [More]
These Are The Stakes
Following up on a great post by Josh Marshall who said this: [G]etting our policy in order is also being stymied because the political opponents of the war aren't willing... [More]
February 7, 2007
Mr Straight Talk.Yeah....Right.
This may be the worst example yet of McCain's slow descent into hypocrisy. Back during the Clinton administration, McCain said the following about his efforts to end the deployment of... [More]
Quote of the Day
Via Salon's War Room On the Senate floor a few moments ago, Jon Tester said that he's traveled all around his home state of Montana, and "not a single person... [More]
Report: SecDef Gates Says Iraq Debate Doesn't Harm Troop Morale
Greg Sargent has the details. Here's the key quote: Gates added that troops understand members of Congress want to find the best way to win the war. "I think they're... [More]
February 9, 2007
"The Stupidest F'ing Man In The World..."
Gen. Tommy Franks once refereed to Doug Feith, the former undersecretary of defense under Rumsfeld, as the "stupidest fucking guy on the face of the earth." As head of the... [More]
In Your Name
From today's WaPo, an editorial from a former interrogator in Iraq who worked with the 82nd Airborne. This is what honor and courage look like: The lead interrogator at the... [More]
Kerry Makes An Interesting Move
I'm not exactly sure what to make of this, but it is certainly interesting enough to pass along. Political Insider: The word on Capitol Hill is that Sen. John Kerry... [More]
‘A Platoon Of Lesbians’
This is hilarious.... [More]
Not One War, But Four
So says Defense Secretary Robert Gates. And as Phillip Carter points out, "Successes in one area produce setbacks in the others." Understand that, and you will understand why this is... [More]
February 11, 2007
Gen. Odom: "Victory Is Not an Option"
So says Gen. William Odom, the former head of Army intelligence and director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan. Two key excerpts: First, the assumption that the United... [More]
"An Operational Relationship"
Doug Feith really is intent on living up to his billing as the "stupidest f'ing man in the world." Via Kevin Drum... Doug Feith Today: Nobody in my office ever... [More]
Misusing Anonymous Sourcing
This really needs to stop. Today, the AP is reporting yet again on "evidence" the US government is providing that links Iran to armor-piercing bombs used in IRaq to attack... [More]
Daou's Triangle Closes On Hillary
Stoller thinks Daou's triangle is closing on Hillary. Until this weekend, I'm not sure I would have agreed. But driving home from work this afternoon, I heard an NPR report... [More]
February 12, 2007
Gen. Pace Walks Back on Iran (UPDATED)
So far this story is only being reported in the Australian news media. Odd, given that it is a story of significant importance. Via TPM, the Chairman of the Joint... [More]
Another Day, Another Corruption Case
This time its the CIA and the White House in hot water. US News: A federal judge has ruled that a CIA agent identified only as "Doe," allegedly fired after... [More]
February 13, 2007
The More "Radical" The Position on Iraq, The More Americans Support It
Interesting poll results today from USA Today. The highlights: •There is majority support for congressional action on Iraq: 51% back a non-binding resolution, 57% a cap on troop levels and... [More]
It Depends What The Meaning of "Slam Dunk" Is
This is just brilliant. Is there anyone in this administration willing to take responsibility for anything? Last week it was Doug Feith disavowing responsibility for the pre-war intelligence analysis his... [More]
It Depends What The Meaning of "Waste" Is
Carpetbagger has an interesting post on right-wing outrage over a comment Obama made over the weekend. First, here's how Carpetbagger summarized the comment: In New Hampshire over the weekend, Barack... [More]
February 14, 2007
Not What, But Why (Updated)
In today's White House Press Conference, the President once again made the claim that Iraqi insurgents are receiving arms from Iranian sources. He admits that has no evidence that those... [More]
Iran more "Disruptive" Than Al Qaeda?
So says Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. Unbelievable.... [More]
Fess Up
Via MyDD, Congressman Pascrell gets it precisely right today on Iraq: I said a year and a half ago that I made a mistake. I mean, I confessed. But I... [More]
February 15, 2007
"Support The Troops"
Although the debate over the non-binding Senate and House resolutions is getting all of the press, whatever the outcome of the votes, it is going to be the debate over... [More]
An Up Or Down Vote
Sen. Reid calls their bluff. This Saturday, the Senate is going to hold an up or down vote on the House resolution to "support the troops and opposes the escalation."... [More]
In Your Name
Never forget that this war was started and pursued in our names. This is what the war has created: We were asked to send the next of kin to whom... [More]
February 21, 2007
Learning to Blog
Watching Joe Klein learn to blog over at Time Magazine's Swampland has been fascinating. The man has been hammered by liberal bloggers for years, but I've long felt that his... [More]
February 23, 2007
Beinart: "How I Got the Iraq War Wrong"
Yet another mea culpa from a liberal who supported the war. Coming from The New Republic's Peter Beinart, this one is more noteworthy than usual. An excerpt: I was willing... [More]
News From Iraq
Today's NYT gives us an update on "the surge": BAGHDAD, Feb. 19 — It looked like a scene out of a counterinsurgency training video. Dressed in crisp uniforms with a... [More]
We Went To War To Prevent WMD Proliferation, Right?
Brilliant. BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 — Insurgents are likely to continue combining car bombs with chlorine gas and other chemicals to launch attacks similar to three in recent weeks that spewed... [More]
Compare And Contrast, Or Something...
Dick Cheney, circa 1991: “The notion that we ought to now go to Baghdad and somehow take control of the country strikes me as an extremely serious one in terms... [More]
February 24, 2007
Quote of the Day
This sums up the last 6 years fairly well, now doesn't it? "If you can't get experts, it's really hard to do an expert job." Here's the full context: Almost... [More]
February 26, 2007
Entirely Predictible
WaPo: BAGHDAD -- The engineer stood aside as Iraqi and American soldiers rifled through his daughter's wardrobe and peered under her bed. He did not mind when they confiscated the... [More]
February 28, 2007
Setting Timetables for the GWOT
Notice to al Qaeda: The Bush administration believes that the Global War on Terror must be won by October 2008. Apparently our national security policy infrastructure won't be able to... [More]
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