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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War / Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day

by John Cole|  February 11, 200810:51 am| 19 Comments

This post is in: War, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.

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Operation “Dump This Clusterfuck on the Democrats” continues in earnest:

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Baghdad on Monday he was in favour of a short pause in troop drawdowns from Iraq after about 30,000 soldiers have been sent home by July.

Gates said the security situation in Baghdad remained “fragile,” a comment echoed on the streets of the capital which was rocked by two car bombings that left 11 people dead just as he was winding up his surprise trip to Iraq.

“I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,” he told reporters after a two-hour meeting with the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

“I must say, in my own thinking, I am headed in that direction as well but one of the keys is how long is that period and what happens after that. It still has to be determined and decided by the president.”

The 157,000-strong US force in the insurgency-wracked country is currently on track to come down from 19 brigades to 15 by July, a reduction of at least 20,000 troops plus another 7,000 to 10,000 members of support units, according to military commanders in Iraq.

Gates has previously expressed the hope that the drawdown can continue to about 10 brigades or about 100,000 troops by year’s end.

For the skinny on the lack of planning that got us into this mess (a lack of planning discussed by war critics that fatheaded kool-aid drinkers like me derided), see here.

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Previous Post: « Ignorance is Bliss
Next Post: Is Bill Trying to Sink Hillary? »

Reader Interactions

19Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    February 11, 2008 at 11:02 am

    So I was walking through the streets of Iraq on Jan 08, 2009 and everything was looking groovy. And then Jan 09 rolls around and suddenly there was this car bomb, and a bus got attacked by militants, and 23 soldiers died, and troop morale is low, and everything is so expensive.

    And so I turned to President Hillary Clinton and said, “OMG! WHAT DID YOU DO?!!!”

  2. 2.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 11:03 am

    First we “surrender to terror” by electing a Democrat (thank you Mr. Romney for that gem), and then Democrats fail to take advantage of the fact the “surge is working”, so then Republicans can, alltogether now: Claim we would have won if the Democrats had only had the cajones to fight the war.

    I can see the new Republican tagline:

    “Liberals stabbed us in the back” – if it “worked” for the Nazis, why not the Republicans?

    I do also seem to remember some line about those who forget history being doomed to something… can’t quite recall. Maybe George Will or Charles Krauthammer can help me out?

  3. 3.

    frankdawg81

    February 11, 2008 at 11:06 am

    John – don’t be too hard on yourself. Lots of people made the same mistake and have never acknowledged it let alone tried to make amends.

    Coincidently, the reason I saw what was coming was from reading Juan Cole’s site ‘informed comment’. He has more insight on the Middle East than all of the Bushies combined. He predicted virtually everything that has come to pass.

  4. 4.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 11:09 am

    And so I turned to President Hillary Clinton and said, “OMG! WHAT DID YOU DO?”

    Wanna bet that Fox News flips its coverage around on January 9th? No more “all missing white women, all the time”. Suddenly it’s sober reports about how despite the surge, violence in Iraq is as high as it was in 2005 (cluster-fuck time). Reports about how the liberal feminists can’t protect women in Iraq and Afghanistan (this is one of Sully’s favorite tactics too, fucker).

    Normally I wouldn’t support Hillary’s call for people like Shuster to be fired, but Dems could use some media backbone/pushback.

  5. 5.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 11:13 am

    He predicted virtually everything that has come to pass.

    Yeah, I think he was one part of one of those “decadent enclaves on the coasts” (Sully) that mounted a “5th column” after 9/11.

    As our host has said earlier, the dirty fucking hippies were exactly right. And I was an idiot (a la Kevin Drum) for believing Bush & Powell would never mislead us with false evidence into war.

  6. 6.

    NonyNony

    February 11, 2008 at 11:14 am

    jcricket –

    then Republicans can, alltogether now: Claim we would have won if the Democrats had only had the cajones to fight the war.

    You don’t need to invoke Godwin to make a comparison here – replace Iraq with Vietnam, Bush with Nixon, and Carter with whichever Dem president gets into office next and you can rewrite the “we would have only won Vietnam if liberals hadn’t stabbed us in the back” script from the 80s.

    And, even if McCain were to get the office, the script still holds, just with McCain in the Nixon role and whatever Dem takes the presidency after him in the Carter role.

  7. 7.

    TheFountainHead

    February 11, 2008 at 11:18 am

    Honestly, who cares? What HASN’T been the fault of liberal thinking in the last two decades? Whether it’s the fault of the liberal press, the liberal congress, or the liberal judges, it’s OUR fault. So fuck it and fuck them. They can cast stones all they want, doesn’t make them any less ignorant or any less wrong.

  8. 8.

    4tehlulz

    February 11, 2008 at 11:20 am

    >>And, even if McCain were to get the office, the script still holds, just with McCain in the Nixon role

    Not really; REAL CONSERVATIVES think he’s a secret LIE-BRUL too.

  9. 9.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 11:27 am

    You don’t need to invoke Godwin to make a comparison here

    I’m totally aware Republicans did the same thing after Vietnam, but isn’t it a little ironic that this was also the actual strategy some Germans used after WWII?

    Not that Republicans are Nazis, but there’s a reason the original phrase for this strategy is in German, no?

    And speaking of GroundHog Day. Looks like that old crappy Democrat who lost to Reagan in a landslide was a DFH and 100% right too:

    If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributer cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, See, this proves that people were meant to walk.

    And they do this so that they don’t have to chip in on gas.

    Republicans: Consistency is only a virtue if your aim is good.

  10. 10.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 11:29 am

    So fuck it and fuck them.

    This is my attitude right now. Fuck them. Bipartisanship and compromise are unnecessary when your opponents are all wrong. The only compromises we need to make are with the American public to get elected and represent their views and interests.

    Republicans need to start being shut out of the avenues of power. They’re like alcoholics, even a little taste sends them on a bender.

  11. 11.

    zzyzx

    February 11, 2008 at 11:30 am

    What’s special about January 9? Did you mean the 20th?

  12. 12.

    SnarkyShark

    February 11, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    I’m totally aware Republicans did the same thing after Vietnam, but isn’t it a little ironic that this was also the actual strategy some Germans used after WWII?

    Wrong war dude. It was after WW1 that the ‘stab in the back’ meme came into being.

    After WW2, there was no question in the Germans minds that they had been whupped.

    The Nazi’s were involved only in that they used that meme to advance their agenda.

    Which is another example of how the Nazis and Republicans share common goals and methods.

    I’m sure Jonah Pantload would beg to differ, but fuck him gently with a rusty chainsaw.

    OoPS, I be teh foulmouthed bloggger. Blogger ethics panel bitches!

  13. 13.

    Face

    February 11, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    If they remove troops and all things go to shit (they will), that puts Iraq on the electoral horizon only months before McCain gets waxed.

    Ergo, no troop withdrawls. I’m actually stunned they’ll bring home the surgers. I fully expected them to reverse that, too, and ignore tour lengths, burnout, etc.

  14. 14.

    jcricket

    February 11, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    I’m sure Jonah Pantload would beg to differ, but fuck him gently with a rusty chainsaw.

    I stand corrected, and it’s nice to see more parallels with Republicans and totalitarian uber-nationalists. Always brings a little smile to my face.

    Schadenfreude bitches!

  15. 15.

    Shabbazz

    February 11, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    >> “It still has to be determined and decided by the president.”

    Hmmm…so the direction of this war will be decided by politicians in Washington after all? The president listening to the generals listening to the president listening to the generals ad infinitum. Same as it ever was. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

  16. 16.

    MJ

    February 11, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    John you are right to blast Bush for the lack of planning but have you seen anything in regards to General David Petraeus and how he has done things that would makes you lump him in with earlier mistakes?

    “I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,” he told reporters after a two-hour meeting with the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

    Obama on CBS pretty much said the same thing:

    “And you pull out according to that time table, regardless of the situation? Even if there’s serious sectarian violence?” Kroft asked.

    “No, I always reserve as commander in chief, the right to assess the situation,” Obama replied.

    Obama is giving himself some wiggle room because he knows that a foolishly quick withdrawal is not wise no matter what the rhetoric is now.

  17. 17.

    Delia

    February 11, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    After all, why shouldn’t we trust Robert Gates’ judgment? It turns out he was the nimrod who overhyped the military threat from the Russkies back in the eighties and then helped the Afghans overthrow them by cultivating this Arab fanatic named bin Laden.

    What could possibly go wrong this time?

  18. 18.

    Tsulagi

    February 11, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    As our host has said earlier, the dirty fucking hippies were exactly right.

    So was the Army War College before Shock and Awe…

    If this nation and its coalition partners decide to undertake the mission to remove Saddam Hussein, they will also have to be prepared to dedicate considerable time, manpower, and money to the effort to reconstruct Iraq after the fighting is over.

    Otherwise, the success of military operations will be ephemeral, and the problems they were designed to eliminate could return or be replaced by new and more virulent difficulties
    ……………
    To tear apart the (Iraq) Army in the war’s aftermath could lead to the destruction of one of the only forces for unity within the society. Breaking up large elements of the army also raises the possibility that demobilized soldiers could affiliate with ethnic or tribal militias.

    What the Army War College did not factor in was the monumental incompetence and retardation of this administration.

    The amount of blame this revealed RAND report assigns to Franks is bullshit. He was given the resources and mission he was given. While dealing with a CPA that was dedicated to implementing the full collective brilliance of the Cheney, Rummy, Wolfie, etc. minds and skillz directly in Iraq. Franks left Iraq, but The Stupid continued. We never stood a chance.

  19. 19.

    TenguPhule

    February 12, 2008 at 1:28 am

    What could possibly go wrong this time?

    To quote, The mind boggles.

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