Surge Iraq Is Going to Help Me

And a quick one about tonight's debate...McCain loves his "Obama still won't admit the surge worked" line as evidence of That One's bad judgment. Let's assume the surge did work for a second (not too long a second--check out this chilling article).* If we give McCain that, his argument is pretty much this: Sure we committed a murder, but I know the best way to get rid of the body.



*Actually, mostly when those who argue The Surge worked make that claim they mean fewer American soldiers are dying. For just as the dollars to find this illegal, unwinnable war are off the budget books, so is the cost in Iraqi lives.

The General Lied at Yawn

So the Petraeus and pony show makes its way back to Capitol Hill and how does the media frame his visit? It's all about McCain, Clinton, and Obama. You see, the Iraq War is just a sideshow for our election, the difficult final Jeopardy! question for the three contestants.

One more reason our country's screwed.

Here's the UK Guardian in a story about the struggle to figure out how many Iraqis have died in this boondoggle:

So five years after Bush and Tony Blair launched the invasion of Iraq against the wishes of a majority of UN members, no one knows how many Iraqis have died. We do know that more than two million have fled abroad. Another 1.5 million have sought safety elsewhere in Iraq. We know that the combined horror of car bombs, suicide attacks, sectarian killing and disproportionate US counter-insurgency tactics and air strikes have produced the worst humanitarian catastrophe in today's world. But the exact death toll remains a mystery.

And then there's this tidbit I hadn't ever heard, which answers the "of course there have been lots of deaths, those damn terrorists killing Iraqis!" comment:

[The Iraq Body Count, an independent UK-based research group] which has produced the lowest figures reveal that the Americans killed four times more civilians in the first two years of the war (thereby provoking armed resistance to the occupation) than al-Qaida-linked insurgents did, in spite of the media's emphasis on car bombs and suicide attacks.

It's worth looking at all the material the Guardian has on its Iraq page, not just for what it tells us about that godforsaken country, but for what it tells us about what journalism could be.

Mission Recomplished

Here's the lead from a Washington Post story yesterday:

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.

We've won! We've beat the group we had to beat! So let's get the heck out of Dodge, no? Or are we fighting Sunnis and Shiites? You're not telling me we're actually over there just to be in the middle of someone else's civil war, are you Mr. Bush?

In the meantime we get this news from Reuters today:

Oil thundered to a new peak above $88 a barrel on Tuesday as investors eyeing supply concerns and tensions in northern Iraq extended the nine-dollar rally that started last week.

For let's not forget what Laurence Lindsay, then President Bush's senior economic advisor, said prior to the invasion of Iraq:

"Under every plausible scenario, the negative effect will be quite small relative to the economic benefits that would come from a successful prosecution of the war. The key issue is oil, and a regime change in Iraq would facilitate an increase in world oil."

It will also be good to hear how those who espouse the free market as the corrective balancing answer to all economic woes will try to spin this latest increase in the price of crude. That Reuters article says, "The record surge raised alarm bells for producer group OPEC, which blamed rampant speculation by big money investors rather than any shortage of supply." That is, supply and demand don't regulate the price of oil, those trying to make money off oil regulate its price. Or to put it in other terms--the richest of the rich have us by our oil-greedy nuts.

That article also points out the soaring prices of oil are just one problem. After all there's the "economic pressure from the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market." And then Business Day reports: "The gold price hit a 28-year high yesterday, with the precious metal's appeal polished by a weak dollar, record-high oil prices and geopolitical tension."

So, all will be just fine for those of us buying up gold and oil. I'm sure that's most of my readership.

An Un-winnable Civil War in the Time of Cholera

So along with all the other fine things we've brought to Iraq, like Blackwater and al-Qaeda in Iraq (see, we told you they were would be here), it seems all our shock and awe has screwed up water there. And bad water means a lovely thing called cholera. The AP reports:

A cholera outbreak in Iraq is spreading, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, with new cases confirmed in Baghdad, Basra and for the first time three northern districts.

The number of confirmed cases has now reached 2,116, WHO said. Just a day earlier a WHO official put the number of confirmed cases at 1,652. Eleven people have died of the disease so far.

Now, in the realm of cholera outbreaks throughout the world this might not seem like a big deal, as in 2005 there were 2,272 deaths and 131,943 cases globally. But it is telling who gets cholera, for in 2005 there were only 24 cases of the disease in all the Americas, even the ones to the south many of us hope don't come north (I'm looking at you Michelle Malkin). In general cholera is a disease for the misfortunate and poor, an extra helping of one's bad life getting worse.

For the AP reports:

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration.

Many governments prefer to report outbreaks under the heading of acute watery diarrheal diseases rather than admit the existence of cholera in their country.

Imagine what it must be like to be a disease so horrible that it's considered preferred to have died from "acute watery diarrhea"? Ah, that's just America's shitstorm raining on the Iraqis in one more fashion.

Boy, Sgt. Cabin, Iraq Is One Hell's Bucket

News from the inbox:

First, someone's got to tell the DCCC they need to sample mail emails before they ship them out. Since Yahoo lists "From" and "Subject" right next to each other, right now a line in my box says "Speaker Nancy Pelosi Unconscionable."

Second, the email scams are hitting new lows. Today I got one from "Sgt. B. Cabin" (you only get to the A Cabin once you're no longer a NCO), who seems to prove that our soldiers are not only under great strain, but also relatively illiterate:

My name is SGT.B.CABIN, I am an American soldier, serving in the military Second Marine Division in Iraq, Please bear with me, it will be good you understands the sensitivities of the situation we are facing here in Iraq.

As you know, we are being attacked by insurgents everyday by car bombs. We managed to move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein during a raid in Tikrit his home town. The total amount is US$ 11 Million Dollars in cash, all in 100 dollar bills. We have concluded to move this money out of Iraq to any part of Europe for investment.

We pleaded you help us receive the bag containing the fund from security diplomatic company upon arrival. We have arrange on using Diplomatic Security Courier Company to evacuate this fund to you as soon as you merit our basic requirements.

I promise, Seargeant, I understands more than you might know, so don't pleaded.

I'm not sure, though, if it's sadder that you think I think my country's soldiers are thieves or you think I think it's ok to steal money from the country we illegally occupy.

Perhaps We Won the War and Just Missed It

Think about this sentence for a minute, spoken by Tony Snow on Face the Nation yesterday (it's part of this TPM clip):

As far as how or when or where you achieve a benchmark that's impossible for anybody to say.

Now, for years I've thought BushCo doesn't use enough foresight, but given quotes like that and all the talk about Iraq being the new Korea (since the Vietnam analogy isn't their favorite, although no one's saying who gets to be Iraq's Kim Jong-Il), it seems the White House is thinking a good seven generations into the future on something.

Bush Vetoes TuesdaySanta Barbara Protests Wednesday

As you probably know, President Bush will veto the Iraq Accountability Act -- a bill to end the Iraq war and bring the troops home safely in 2008 -- most likely tomorrow. After all it's a perfectly fitting way for him to commemorate his Mission Accomplished speech, which he gave 4 years ago.

So, to show Americans want the war to end as soon as possible, on Wednesday, May 2 starting at 5:30 pm, local Santa Barbara residents will protest President Bush’s veto. Residents will gather on the 101 Freeway overpass at Micheltorena Street to make some noise expressing their strong disapproval of President Bush’s veto. This protest will help get the message out to the greater Santa Barbara area in a vivid and unequivocal manner at the height of evening rush hour traffic.

Feel free to join us--bring a noisemaker, a sign, and your indignation. Let the world know that President Bush does NOT speak for you. Local members of MoveOn.org Political Action are organizing Wednesday’s event, which is one of several hundred around the country. If you live somewhere else, go join your local protest.

Idsville

So today's press conference confirms President Bush believes there's a new word called "artificialtimetables." If I were part of the gaggle, this would be my question: "Mr. President, you continue to use the word 'artificialtimetables' as a way to characterize the Democrats' attempts to end the Iraq War. Could you tell me if there is a 'realistictimetable'? And if there isn't, does that mean we are in Iraq forever?"

Oh, and you have to admire when the id gets out. Bush ended the press conference with the telling following line: " Iraq is a very important part of securing the homeland, and it's a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world."

You Don't Bring Iraq Flowers, Anymore

The LA Times reports:

President Bush, marking the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, pleaded for patience, saying "there will be good days and bad days ahead."

He went on to say, "Good days for me and my friends who aren't in Iraq and don't have relatives in Iraq. Bad days for others, but I don't know them. Those people can hold out for January 20, 2009. That will be a good day for them. Heh-heh. If I haven't had Freddo Gonzales suspend what's left of the Constitution by then. You don't really think I'm going to have him resign now, do you? He's done everything I've wanted."

He also chided Congress for loading up the war-spending bill with other features, like agricultural disaster relief funds. "They have a responsibility to pass a clean bill that does not use funding for our troops as leverage to get special interest spending for their districts," Bush said of Congress.

"I mean, the Republicans never did such a thing when we were the majority. We wouldn't put Alaskan oil drilling in a defense appropriations bill, for instance. Oh, ok, we did, but at least we had a real majority and didn't have to suck up to Lieberman to get our way. He just does what we want naturally."

Bush noted that his so-called surge of additional troops to Baghdad and the troubled Anwar province is "still in its early stages," and acknowledged that "success will take months, not days or weeks." But, after a morning briefing by U.S. military officials and Iraqi leaders on secure television from Baghdad, the president said "those on the ground are seeing some hopeful signs."

"You can't expect us to fix four years in a few days--it takes about two years to fix a year, but if any part of something goes wrong in that two years, that has to be corrected, too. After all, we've only led to the deaths of 1 in 5 Iraqis so far in four years, so we've got a couple of decades to weed out all the problems."

Ugly Anniversary

If you're in Santa Barbara or its environs tomorrow, go to this. If you're not, find out where one is happening hear you.

Saturday, March 17th, Santa Barbara, CA

Power Of Peace
Cost of War
a Day of Action

Gather 11:30 Vera Cruz Park
March at Noon
Rally at Sunken Gardens 1pm
Workshops to follow

tell a friend