From this one Talabani statement, will a thousand Kos diaries bloom:
US Vice-President Dick Cheney has made an unannounced visit to Iraq – his first since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Mr Cheney praised Iraq’s “tremendous” elections last week and was described by President Jalal Talabani as a “hero for liberating Iraq”.The visit was kept so secret that it is thought even the Iraqi prime minister was not told beforehand.
As one of the main advocates of the Iraq war, Mr Cheney has come under constant criticism by opponents.
Heh.
Pb
He had to destroy Iraq in order to save it. Actually, he’s not done destroying it yet. Then again, the more you pay contractors to destroy, the more you can pay contractors to rebuild–it’s a win-win all around for the broken window fallacy!
Let’s hope so, Dick. Although if what you’ve been doing for the past two years is “winning”, then I’d hate to see what losing looks like. Also, I’m still fuzzy on why there had to be a fight in the first place–maybe both times, even.
StupidityRules
They don’t even trust the Iraqi prime minister? Obviously that is a sign that everything is O K….
ppGaz
Let me try a Maherism:
The bad news is that Cheney is coming back.
You know you are not going to have a Happy Holidays when your surprise Christmas present is Dick Cheney.
Talk about undermining the troops.
Paddy O'Shea
Yeah, not exactly what you’d call a visit from Santa.
However, at least it isn’t like the previous holiday visit from a White House dignitary. This time the plastic turkey stayed home.
Cromagnon
Maybe to demonstrate what a success Iraq has been, Cheney ought to embark on a country-wide unescorted bus tour of Iraq, complete with stops in those bastions of peace and serenity Fallujah, Sammara, Ramadi, and Mosel… I’m sure the crowds will be flocking to behold the Hero
chef
What? No candy and flowers tour! While Dick is out moonlighting for aluminum tubes, Lynne should be doing a book tour dedicated to erasing all impure thoughts.
jg
I hope Cheney takes the time to tell the troops that only republicans back home are pulling for them.
S.W. Anderson
I like Cromagnon’s idea.
WhenIf Cheney makes it back from that in one piece, he can report to the nation all those good-news stories that negative, liberal journalists supposedly don’t bother with.But if Cheney really wants to do something for the troops, maybe he could spend a little of his valuable time when he gets back encouraging ones fighting very different kinds of battles, at Walter Reed and Bethesda. Maybe he could even do it without making a photo op out of it, as Rep. John Murtha has been quietly doing all along.
Bruce Moomaw
Bush certainly “liberated Iraq” for the Shiites (or for the government and militias currently acting in their name). We’re about to find out whether he liberated it for anyone else. I am not optimistic.
ppGaz
Welcome to the New GOP, where people “too busy” to serve their country are somehow heroic, and people who served with valor are somehow just opportunists.
Who says these lying motherfuckers aren’t smart? They really can turn chicken shit into chicken soup.
TallDave
Ouch! I hope Kos’ servers don’t catch fire.
Poor guy. I bet steam shoots out his ears when he sees all those Kurds waving American flags and cheering our troops. They’re almost like Iraqi Republicans that way.
Of course the real winners are the 11 million Iraqis who were able to vote thanks to our efforts there. Freedom is a human right.