Pretty horrifying:
A newborn baby was one of at least 14 children and adults killed when a suicide bomber detonated a lorry laden with explosives close to a primary school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday.
The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.
***More than 600 Iraqis have been killed in the past week despite a US-Iraqi security plan to quell violence in the capital. Most of the killings have been the result of truck bombs outside Baghdad.
Mr McCain said that the situation was showing signs of improvement and blamed waning support in the United States for the war on the media, which were portraying an overly negative image of the crisis.
Not everyone has three Apache helicopters, 100 soldiers, a couple armored vehicles, and the flak jacket required to stroll through “safe” Baghdad marketplaces.
I blame the liberal media for spreading a negative image. There were thousands of Iraqi market workers who were not bound and shot execution style last week.
CDB
Anyone with half a brain Knew they would be endangering lives for this little stunt. So either he doesn’t have half a brain or he doesn’t care about the lives of others.
The Other Steve
I realize this sounds funny and all, poor John Mccain living in neverneverland.
But this is really quite sad.
Mr Furious
Let’s see, I think the toll for March was 1,800, which was worse than February or January. Looks like April is shaping up to exceed March.
Sounds like progress to me!
Punchy
Speaking of that markets trip by McCant and Mike Pence…here’s what The Pencer penned on his website:
Translation–the merchant KNEW if he cooperated in any way with an American, him and his family would be murdered by Sunnis. He shook his head “no” to refuse this interaction, and touched his heart to signify “I WANT TO FUCKING LIVE, YOU DICKHEAD!”. He “relented” when he realized that if he pissed off the Americans/Shites, they’d most assuredly jail his ass and destroy his family and belongings.
So these Senators showed up and probably caused misery all around. But hey, I’d expect as much from Third-World Country/State Indiana Senator/Ambassador Mike Pence.
Tom Hilton
Oddly, the liberal media (here in Gringolandia, anyway) haven’t picked up yet on what seems to me like a pretty damn big story.
Tom Hilton
Er, the ‘big story’ being 21 vendors killed in the very market where McCain had his photo op. Odd that it isn’t getting more play.
DougJ
This stunt was truly unconscionable. I’m glad these lawmakers went to Baghdad, but they never never never should have pulled this stunt.
What could they possibly have been thinking?
Otto Man
No, no, the big story is that Nancy Pelosi is in Syria, wearing a head scarf!
Unlike the times Laura Bush and Karen Hughes wore head scarves in the Middle East, this is an outrage! And unlike the Republican congressmen who are there, Pelosi’s presence is an outrage!
Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!
Attention must be paid!
Zifnab
That, actually, is the final Bush security plan. We keep up ramping up our troops till we’ve got 100 soldiers, a couple armored Humvees, and a helicopter escort for every surviving Iraqi.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~! I’m running for Prezident!
Andrew
Mike Pence:
This is the most delusional thing that has ever been said, ever. It makes Bush look like an enlightenment philosopher.
Seriously. Double ewe tee eff.
ThymeZone
McCain’s campaign has ….uh …. cratered, and America is thereby saved.
The Straight Talker has turned into the Joke Talker. The media are all but laughing at him now.
Iraq, on the other hand, continues to be fucked.
Tsulagi
Stroll Accomplished. Stay the Course. And don’t forget to remind everyone you’re victimized by the hate America MSM and the hippies in their boardrooms.
McCain is morphing into GWB.
Pb
New McCain slogan: We’re making progress in getting Iraqis killed!
Now can we ditch these clowns and get the fuck out of Iraq already?
srv
GW has been so accomplished at making decisions that get so many people killed, it isn’t any wonder that McCain wants in on that kind of action. It’s who he is.
skip
No mention is made of the massive sweep of the area that was undertaken BEFORE McCain’s Mobile Green Zone even got there.
The 21st century version of Potemkin village.
Tim F.
Question: who is McCain’s constituency?
My answer, he doesn’t have one. He has nakedly betrayed every political faction in existence. Go beyond the religious right, what Republican could possibly trust a guy who opened talks about switching parties not once but twice? It would be like Joe Lieberman making another run for the presidency. Unless I I missed something important the McCain campaign is a long-dead tree that hasn’t fallen over yet.
Lindsay Graham
I got a civil war and hundreds of thousands of excess deaths all for the low price of $1 trillion! Whatta country!
ThymeZone
You haven’t, and it is.
Like McCain himself, it hasn’t quite fallen over yet.
Pb
Just you wait–don’t count out the McCain/Lieberman Independent ticket yet!
Rex
The Kagan Report said that the biggest threat to the ‘surge’ plan was that the insurgency would go dormant in Baghdad and move to outlying areas–which appears to be what has happened. I want to know why Michelle Malkin wasn’t shouting her shrill damnedest accusing the Kagan plan of helping the terrorists to know exactly what the most effective counter would be? Or were they too busy reading the New York Times in order to find out where Rumsfeld and Cheney vacation?
FAP
Maybe we have McCain all wrong. Maybe it wasn’t 100 soldiers, armored humvees, and attack helicopters with him. Maybe it was just his Verizon network.
les
NPR did a piece yesterday on the Market Visited By the Idiots, including an interview with the vendor who so touched the Penceter. He was pissed, since in preparation for the visit they cleared the market of all the regular customers; but he said he thought that he should be generous to a visitor. He went on to say that he supported the Iraqi insurgents, but that they should target the occupying forces, not native Iraqis. And that’s where the rethugs find hope and will to continue.
Blue Neponset
I wonder how a military genius like John McCain’s couldn’t figure out that he was painting a huge bulls-eye on that market by visiting it. The blood of those 21 people is on his hands.
louisms
Actually, I think McCain resides in Westmorelandland. This is Vietnam redux.
Goes to show that it’s impossible to over-estimate the power of willful denial of reality.
srv
I think we’re all wasting too much time on McCain and not Romney & Guiliani. We need to focus on their minority babies and what not.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Clinton was still way worse than McCain, though.
Perry Como
If anyone wants to read a very “shrill” post about the handling of this war, and the history of military readiness leading up to it, check this out.
If this is indeed a battle of civilizations, what the fuck is wrong with this administration?
tBone
Looks like I registered http://www.americaforpanderingdouchenozzles.com just in time, then.
MNPundit
I wonder if they chose those people specifically to respond to McCain, making him on some level responsible for this.
ThymeZone
Great post.
ThymeZone
Oh, it is the great battle, for sure. Here’s an inside look at the White House’s policy process.
Perry Como
TZ, I think you meant this.
ThymeZone
Oh yeah. We bad.
ThymeZone
Darrell sent you his picture?
That asshole.
Tsulagi
Hey, don’t forget the Blackhawks! Required bling for today’s fashionable stroll taker. I wonder how many fixed-wing aircraft not directly overhead were also in the air for The Stroll.
Meanwhile, taking a look at RedState, they’re still sleuthing Gigglegate. They’re on the hunt.
Though they don’t have direct proof yet, they just know it was Michael Ware who giggled during McCain’s after-stroll presser during which he commented on his peaceful marketplace shopping. A French reporter who heard it is possibly not telling the truth that is was Ware doing the dastardly giggling. Guess that’s to be expected of the French.
Note to brilliant RedStaters: You’re lucky the entire room didn’t bust out laughing at McCain’s bullshit.
Richatd Bottoms
>Question: who is McCain’s constituency?
At one point it included some of the same idiot Democrats who keep falling in love with Republicans who say they aren’t really theocratic, uptight assholes, when in fact they are.
Rome Again
Well, as an Independent, I won’t be voting for it.
Rome Again
Just a bunch of thug liars.
Rome Again
That policy process costs $22.95, we’re being seriously ripped off.
ThymeZone
I think the new spending bill cuts off funding for board games ……..
Rome Again
Does that include Pig Mania?
ThymeZone
No, we’re cutting PORK out of the budget!
Ba-da-boom!
DougJ
Remember when Clinton visited that coffee shop in New Hampshire and it was robbed the next day? Isn’t this pretty much the same?
Rome Again
Maybe, perhaps to YOU it is. I don’t recall Clinton trying to assure everyone that American restaurants are safe (or solvent).
ThymeZone
Spelling corrected.
Pb
Do they have any evidence to substantiate their claim that Jennie Matthew is French, or is that just cute ‘shorthand’ for “works for the AFP”, which is “the oldest news agency in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters”. And as a follow-up, should we then be calling all Fox News employees Australian?
Rome Again
Well, that WOULD explain their upside-down philosophy.
DougJ
I don’t recall Clinton trying to assure everyone that American restaurants are safe (or solvent).
Speaking of which, I’m sure there are outdoor markets — swap meets, I think they call them — in LA and Detroit where dozens of merchants are bound and shot each week.
Punchy
Oh, come ON, Tim. He’s the straight-talk express!! He speaks the truth (on Mondays from 8:40-8:42am), appeals to both parties (his daughter’s, at the Pi Phis, and his son’s, at the Beta house), and isn’t old (compared to WWI vets).
I’d vote for him.
Fester Bestertester
Mr McCain said that the situation was showing signs of improvement and blamed waning support in the United States for the war on the media, which were portraying an overly negative image of the crisis.
The straight talk express is now the RNC talking point express.
Pb
And why they’re so fond of kangaroo courts…
Andrew
Don’t you remember that one time when Clinton got a haircut at LAX and so the LAPD had to remove all of its officers from patrolling poor neighborhoods? More than 300 dead.
William
When it comes to foreign affairs, public anxiety is rising. With the conditions of Iraq everchanging, debate has been fierce. The patterns in public opinion are extremely interesting. While the war is definitely a driving force, the public’s uneasiness spills over into the entire range of challenges facing the United States. Overwhelmingly, the public embraces diplomatic measures, with 44% of those surveyed favoring diplomacy with Iran and an addition 28% backing economic sanctions. Favor for military action is in the single digits. Our anxiety indicator is currently at 137 on a 200-point scale, edging toward the 150 point mark that we would consider a crisis of confidence in government policy. Go to http://www.publicagenda.org/foreignpolicy/index.cfm to check out the fourth edition of our “Foreign Policy Index,” and feel free to shoot me an email to discuss.
HyperIon
yeah, i supplied a link to that yesterday on a dead thread. i think that aspect (if true…the Larry Johnson post was not supported by a cite) is worth noting.
maybe it’s time for potential candidates to stop visiting iraq. it’s hard to see how their campaigns could be helped by it. and now it’s easy to see how their campaigns can be hurt by it.
well, if imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery, DougJ should be feeling pretty good now. his signature line has now been incorporated into the blogosphere.
Chad N. Freude
Actually, in LA they’re called farmers’ markets. But the massive attacks on them are OK, because most of the vendors are of Latino ethnicity.
Tsulagi
I think Newt would agree with you. Then Erick at RedState could explain what he meant. Like with this…
Gotta hand it to RedState, I’m reading them more. You just can’t find comedy as easily as you can in their posts.
Chad N. Freude
It’s a shame he isn’t articulate enough to actually say what he means. But then he is thinking of running for president, so I suppose he’s trying to show that he’s qualified.
Rome Again
Yes, that too Pb, thanks for thinking of it. :)
Rome Again
Really, I thought they were called “Gun Shows” where all the militant right-winger extremists hang out, like Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh did once, isn’t that right?
DougJ
I asked the PW crowd whether they thought McCain was nuts. The question drew a mixed response.
raff
So apparently McCain has some exclusive footage of his stroll that the public hasn’t seen yet & it’s supposed to air on 60 Minutes this week. I gotta wonder how 60 Minutes is going to approach this.
If they play it straight — the extensive pre-stroll sweep, the 100 man escort & 5 armed choppers, etc. — it pretty much negates McCain’s point.
If they play it in favour of McCain, they ruin their own credibility. With all the known facts, I don’t see how McCain or 60 Minutes can put a positive, face-saving spin on this story.
As for the actual footage… what’s that gonna look like? Considering McCain was at times surrounded by a protective “diamond formation” 30 men deep, it’s gonna take some creative camera work & editing to keep as many troops out of frame as possible. My guess is a pastiche of close-ups of McCain & his travelling companion browsing rugs & chatting up selected vendors.
Slide
I used to have respect for McCain. You know.. straight talker and all… Well, that has evaporated like the morning dew on a Spring morning. His pandering to the right with religious nut bags was the first straw and now his mimicking the fantasyland optimism of the Bushies is quite nauseating. Plus, he looks so old. In other words, as a good Dem, I hope he is the GOP candidate for President but alas i am losing that hope daily.
Zombie Santa Claus
Your link’s broken or something, Doug.
I’m wondering how Jeff splits his sock-puppet votes.
tBone
Go here for the Proteiny goodness.
Pb
Consider the source–i.e., now ask them that about Bush. Or, for that matter, Brownback or Tancredo.
AnonE.Mouse
McCain declared himself to be a straight talker,Russert and his ilk repeated it,and the audience bought it.
McCain hasn’t changed,Slide,he’s the same craven piece of shit who let down the American public in the S&L debacle-you’ve just fallen out of love.
Chad N. Freude
I think this is really sad. McCain certainly was a hero back in the day. I know, that was then, this is now. But still, he was courageous, [Really Tasteless Snark Alert] or maybe he was just trying to curry favor with John Derbyshire.
Tim F.
Huh. I thought he rerouted your IP away from his site.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Great. Now we have to figure out how many of the replies are DougJ talking to himself. Also, how many of them are Goldstein talking to himself.
chuckles
That spot on his head is getting bigger. Soon he’ll be looking like Gorbachev…chuckle chuckle
chuckles
Oh Boy.
DougJ
I think that at least half the PW commenters are Goldstein himself.
I was banned there for a while, but I’ve got a different IP now.
Krista
Maybe DougJ IS Jeff Goldstein. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, you know.
jnfr
This news breaks my heart. The dead children, and dead merchants, and all the dead hopes gone up in smoke in this stupid, horrible war.
I can’t believe sometimes there are people so evil in the world, that they blow up schools and tiny babies and innocent people trying to shop for food or sell some one a prayer rug.
And I can’t believe that there are such delusional fools and braggarts that they go into the deadly places and put innocent people at risk for their own pride.
I’ve felt this way for several years, on and off. It’s hard to know how to go on sometimes in the middle of such evil.
Andrew
I am not! Er… whoops.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
That would make it even funnier. 100% sockpuppets, 100% of the time.