The cat’s out of the bag, as the man in charge of our troops and studying conditions “on the ground” says that a redeployment of thousands is planned for October. General Casey says it, and the world should be outraged over the New York Times according to Republicans. I see the unfolding of this act quite clearly, some oldies, some precise transitions between numbers and all the Christopher Guest styled peformances from all the actors. The war is not only a mistake according to the voters, but the Supreme Court blasted the kangaroo court procedure invented by our White House to eliminate the word “law” entirely in regards to Guantanamo. Bad week, as this is the same Supreme Court that a week prior had made it legal for police to enter your home uninvited. Ideological leanings in regards to “Mr. Taxpayer” v. “The Man” are heavily in favor of the latter with this group, so the political reaction our right-wingers would be having if the court was stacked to the left would be that “the liberal Supreme Court choose the terrorists over Americans today, and when this war is over, blame belongs on it’s doorstep”. That card is unavailable with the Alito-O’Connor swap, and whatever happens next is bound to equal a copious about media attention. Negotiations with Congress over the legislation’s particulars are headlines, as are the disagreements which ensue, the analysis of particulars in legal opinions written by the justices (especially that of John Roberts) and how some columnist thinks it will all work out in the end.
Navigation of all this requires someting the Republican machine showed a lot of this week, as it held on to the war as the backdrop, but changed the controversy from “Democrats are cowards” to “The New York Times wants us all dead”. It won’t be this for long, as Monday-Wednesday should see the introduction of another thread, maybe even one the bosses consider their best asset. To go along with the distraction, a couple stories have to be buried. Namely, one about a bill passed that pegged student loan payments around 2% higher, at a fixed rate, effective yesterday – in a package that also included tax cuts…the other story is this business with Chief “I’m the President who gave you the job” Justice “Remember me when you’re settled in over there, and be sure to get your butt down to my barbacue” Roberts…a train wreck in the history of point shaving if there ever was one. No one should be speaking about that come Monday. “Legislation is being discussed…”, the progression from here clearly requires a considerable deposit of dignity, an amount that Tony Snow is unlikely to let go of with a smile on his face.
The Times witch hunt is full of holes, but at least it speaks to a poll of some kind. Americans think our news media is a disgrace, with an approval rating around 25%, so out of the 75% who agree on this matter, there’s got to be plenty who will accept this cause and disregard the facts. Especially the one that President Bush had told us about how we were going after the terrorists’ money, something he’s talked about, that has appeared in articles with his quote, for months and years. To say that SWIFT was helping us is about as shocking as knowing that Western Union is as well. Pretending this is an issue right now has more to do with what General Casey said than anything else. What I mean is, when a failed war is coming to an end, those responsible for it will try to shift blame however they can. Re-deployment in October isn’t happening because things are any better in Iraq, and that’s a difficult concept for some to deal with emotionally. The lesson of course being that when you decide to fight a war, make damned sure you WIN IT! Because calling it a failure on account of people and organizations that had no control over the battle plan is a cowardly move.
Depressing stuff…
Government Accountability Office, Report to Congress – Rebuilding Iraq July 2006
The NSVI and supporting documents incorporate the same desired end-state for U.S. stabilization and reconstruction operations in Iraq that the coalition established in 2003: a peaceful, united, stable, and secure Iraq, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism. Since then, however, the strategy’s underlying security, reconstruction, and economic assumptions have evolved in response to changing circumstances.
First, the original plan assumed a permissive security environment, which never materialized. An active and increasingly lethal insurgency undermined the development of effective Iraqi governmental institutions and delayed plans for an early transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqis.
Second, the United States assumed that its U.S.-funded reconstruction activities would help restore Iraq’s essential services—oil production, electricity generation, and water treatment—to prewar levels. However, U.S. efforts to achieve this goal have been hindered by security, management, and maintenance challenges that undermine efforts to improve the lives of the Iraqi people. For example, a March 2006 poll of Iraqi citizens indicated that a majority thought Iraq was heading in the wrong direction, and growing numbers of people believe that the security situation, the provision of electricity, and corruption have worsened.
Third, the strategy assumes that the Iraqi government and international community will help finance Iraq’s development needs. However, Iraq has limited resources to contribute to its own reconstruction, and while the international community has offered some assistance, Iraq’s estimated reconstruction needs vastly exceed what has been offered to date.
As a result, it is unclear how the United States will achieve its desired end-state in Iraq given these significant changes in the underlying assumptions.
I didn’t see any mention in this report of the media causing us to really suck in Iraq. Clearly the GAO is in kahoots with the left elitist media. Eh, RT?
$3 billion per week.
Basically everything Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowicz and Bush said before the invasion has turned out 100% wrong.
Now they’re spining failure into the same old story from back in Vietnam. Same positions, same lack of facts…same bullshit.
Come on Al, it really depends on how you define “wrong”.