Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

You cannot shame the shameless.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

The words do not have to be perfect.

Everybody saw this coming.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / The Path To Victory is Clear

The Path To Victory is Clear

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More Friedman Units:

Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as they have been through most of the five years of war there, under plans presented to President Bush on Monday by the senior American commander and the top American diplomat in Iraq, senior administration and military officials said.

Mr. Bush announced no final decision on future troop levels after the video briefing by the commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and the diplomat, Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. The briefing took place on the day when the 4,000th American military death of the war was reported and just after the invasion’s fifth anniversary.

Victory is apparently the status quo. Or maybe not.

Reader Interactions

33Comments

  2. 2.

    scarshapedstar

    If all we have to do to win is keep doing what we’re already doing… why haven’t we won yet?

  3. 3.

    ThymeZone

    Stay the course. Nice way to observe 4k Day. Because, as Dana Perino pointed out, staying the course is what most of the service parents want Bush to do.

    Bush, meanwhile, had other things to worry about.

    GEORGE Bush larked about with a 6ft Easter Bunny yesterday… as his troops mourned their 4,000th death in Iraq.

    The grim milestone was reached after four US servicemen were killed when their patrol in southern Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb on Easter Sunday.

    The President was pictured hugging the 6ft bunny at the White House as children as young as seven took over the South Lawn for the Easter egg roll, which dates back to 1878.

    Mr Bush joined his wife Laura, his mother and former first lady Barbara Bush and daughter Jenna in presiding over the festivities.

    “We’re sure glad you’re here,” Mr Bush shouted from the White House’s Blue Room balcony.

    Later, he blew the whistle to start the egg roll races, chuckling at the children while the First Lady applauded their efforts.

    “This event is one of the happiest traditions on the White House lawn,” Mrs Bush said. “It’s always fun to see the South Lawn filled with children.”

    Happy, happy.

  4. 4.

    smiley

    This is political. They’ve decided to let McCain run on the war status quo so as to draw a greater distinction between him and whoever his opponent will be. It’s going to be all patriotism/support the troops and their mission all the time in the Fall. Rove was quoted the other day saying the war favored McCain. Here you go.

  6. 6.

    Wilfred

    Al-Maliki was in Basra, where he is supervising the operation against the Shiite militia fighters. At least 22 people were killed in the Basra fighting, officials said.

    The violence marked a stunning escalation in the confrontation between the Shiite-run government and al-Sadr’s forces, who have bitterly complained about the recent arrests of hundreds of backers.

    The clashes also threaten to reverse the security gains achieved by U.S. and Iraqi forces — which have been hailed by Washington as key signs that Iraq was headed for better days.

    This really is the Looking Glass war. So violent clashes threaten to reverse security gains? Don’t they indicate that those gains were as ephemeral as everything else that was claimed to be true?

    I’m sure Petraeus will have his ass kissed to high heaven at his next performance but it would be the perfect moment for a real patriot to call him and Bushco on this nonsense.

  7. 7.

    Dennis - SGMM

    “As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.”
    George W. Bush, speaking at Ft Bragg, N.C. on June 28, 2005

    There were 120,000 US troops in Iraq when you made that speech , George.

    How many are there today, George?

    Well, I’ll tell you since you seem to be, um, busy: 158,000 – despite the fact that your sorry-ass, badly conducted war has managed to kill off 4,000 of them, George.

    That standing them up thing hasn’t gone so well – has it? Just like everything else – eh, George?

    You’re a lying little piece of shit – aren’t you George?

  9. 9.

    The Easter Bunny

    Damnit Easter Bunny, do your duty!

    Kick that drunken fratboy in the junk.

    Up yours, hippie. George W. Bush is a true patriot and our greatest current President. When Obama surrenders to Canuckistan and the flesh is melting off your bones in a boiling vat of maple syrup, don’t come whining to me.

    Peeps (1/2 off post-Easter sale! get ’em while you can!), bitches!

  10. 10.

    Neal

    CNN.com’s lead story at the moment:

    “A massive operation by the Iraqi army in Basra could be the defining battle against Shiite militias. Time.com reports that sources in Basra — the hub of Iraq’s oil industry — say fierce fighting has broken out between government forces and militias, including those of radical, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.”

    That’s not good. Take all of our “surge” gains and kiss them goodbye. I’ve been under the impression that if the Sunni “Awakening” faltered or if al-Sadr gave the green light we would be fucked. It looks as though the latter has now officially happened.

  12. 12.

    LiberalTarian

    D’oh. That’s what you get for reading headlines first … story just came out, but event happened in 2006. I gotta go back and finish grading papers now.

  14. 14.

    Neal

    Good Lord. You would think they are TRYING to start a war with China. Maybe that’s their strategy for getting out of repaying them??

    I thought the same thing. Even if it was 2006, holy shit!

  15. 15.

    Dennis - SGMM

    According to a report I heard on NPR this morning, al-Sadr’s followers are calling upon him to revoke his self-imposed cease fire. Seems that the Iraqi government, aided by U.S. forces, took advantage of the cease fire to target followers of al-Sadr.

    How brilliant is that? The leader of one of the largest militias in Iraq voluntarily declares a cease fire so you do everything you can to make him regret it.

    Every time Bushco has a choice between alternatives in Iraq they choose the most catastrophically stupid one.

  16. 16.

    Scrutinizer

    Neal-

    From John’s brother Juan this morning:

    Sadrists’ Civil Disobedience Campaign

    On Tuesday morning, major clashes broke out between government security forces and local Basra militias (including the Mahdi Army) that sent black smoke billowing in the air above the oil port. A strict curfew was imposed and schools were closed. Reuters reports:

    ‘ “Basra is half empty. There are no vehicles and no one is going to work. People are afraid to go out,” said a military official in the city, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    A hospital source said “tens of wounded” were arriving at hospitals and that some were too busy to accept more casualties. ‘

    Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Sadr Movement announced a “civil disobedience” campaign on Monday in every region of Iraq. The Sadr Movement follows Shiite cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. The movement is complaining that the government continues to target is supporters.

    McClatchy reports of Baghdad:

    ‘ On Monday, the Sadrists all but shut down the neighborhoods they control on the west bank of Baghdad. Gunmen went to stores and ordered them to close as militiamen stood in the streets. Mosques used their loudspeakers to urge people to come forward and join the protest.

    Fliers were distributed with the Sadrists’ three demands of the Iraqi government: to release detainees, stop targeting Sadrist members and apologize to the families and the tribal sheiks of the men. ‘

    On Monday Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Basra at the head of a big security force, at the beginning of the major security sweep of that city that produced Tuesday’s fighting.

    It is being rumored, al-Hayat says, that the prime minister is planning to remove the military commander in the city, Gen. Mohan Hafiz al-Furayji, as well as the police chief, Major-Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf. UPI says that he will attempt to institute a tighter command and control structure in the city. Although the US had been putting pressure on Britain to send some of its troops from the airport back into Basra city, Gordon Brown appears to have resisted Washington’s blandishments in this regard. The US military is concerned that if security collapses in Basra, it could cause the center-north to unravel, as well (this calculation is correct).

    As you say, it sounds as if al-Sadr has taken off the brakes country-wide. Will our media get the hint that the surge didn’t reduce violence in Iraq, but rather al-Sadr’s ceasefire?

    …sound of crickets…

  17. 17.

    Ed Drone

    Turn the Boat Around
    (Tune: Yellow Rose of Texas)

    Our leader landed on the deck dressed in a soldier suit,
    A banner stretched above his head, he looked so doggone cute.
    But San Diego could be seen, right there in the background,
    So the order soon was given, “Turn the boat around.”

    Chorus:

    It’s time to turn the boat around, that’s what the people say.
    The course our leader’s setting is exactly the wrong way.
    The compass reads “disaster,” he’s run us hard aground,
    It’s time to fire the skipper, and then turn the boat around.

    He claimed that he’d found danger, as plain as white and black,
    And the source of all that danger was in far-away Iraq.
    Terror, weapons, poison gas, nukular missiles, too,
    All waiting, primed and ready, to use on me and you.

    So we went in a-shooting, and had ‘em on the run,
    With bought-and-paid-for press along, to show us all the fun.
    We never found those weapons, the poison gas and such,
    And the folks whose land we shot to hell don’t like us very much.

    Chorus

    “Stay the course,” he told us, but wouldn’t show his map;
    He wants complacent citizens to go back to their nap.
    To end the war in Iraq, he’s got a cunning plan –
    He’ll pull the troops out one fine day – and send them to Iran!

    Now, here at home, the policies are tilted toward the rich,
    Big tax cuts and deficits, the good old bait and switch!
    Our leader loves the rich, and puts the dollars in their fist,
    But for the poor, there’s still the war, so they can just enlist!

    Chorus

    This is the “ship of state,” not another “photo op,”
    And when it gets to going, it’s damn-all hard to stop.
    But if we can turn a carrier to try to fool the press,
    Then we can turn the country ‘round, and get out of this mess.

    Chorus

    Copyright ©2003, 2006 Bob Clayton & Ed Drone

  18. 18.

    Dennis - SGMM

    As you say, it sounds as if al-Sadr has taken off the brakes country-wide. Will our media get the hint that the surge didn’t reduce violence in Iraq, but rather al-Sadr’s ceasefire?

    You forget The Rules:
    Rule #1: If violence decreases, it means that our strategy is working.
    Rule #2: If violence increases, it means that the insurgents are getting desperate. Therefor, our strategy is working.

  19. 19.

    The Other Steve

    After the so-called Surge, it was important for the US to draw down troop levels in order to show to Iraqis that we intend on leaving.

    There is no good option. It is very possible that should US soldiers leave, Iraqi forces will start in-fighting.

    But that’s not our problem, we cannot stop it. We can only postpone it. And there is evidence to suggest the longer we postpone it, the better armed and trained these forces become.

    Whatever. It seems that the only reason we’re staying is because if we leave a handful of people will have their feelings hurt because their family died for no reason.

  20. 20.

    Zifnab

    The grim milestone was reached after four US servicemen were killed when their patrol in southern Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb on Easter Sunday.

    They died for your sins.

  21. 21.

    Neal

    But that’s not our problem, we cannot stop it. We can only postpone it. And there is evidence to suggest the longer we postpone it, the better armed and trained these forces become.

    Damn, TOS and I agree.
    That’s more or less it. We can stay and postpone the inevitable or we can, for the first time in 5 years, try something new.
    I’m thinking something new.

  22. 22.

    Jen

    Thanks. Ackerman was well worth reading. The comments, however—-

    Took me nearly half an hour to read the piece, I didn’t look at the comments. It was the anti-Balloon Juice in that regard.

  23. 23.

    Scrutinizer

    Whatever. It seems that the only reason we’re staying is because if we leave a handful of people will have their feelings hurt because their family died for no reason.

    Oh, they died for lots of reasons. The furtherance of PNAC’s vision of increased US hegemony in the Gulf; oil; getting rid of Saddam (“doing it right this time”); sweetheart deals and no-bid contracts for Haliburton; furtherance of domestic political agendas using the excuse of the unitary executive during wartime; lots of reasons. Just not very good ones, and not a one worth a single life.

  24. 24.

    Evinfuilt

    You forget The Rules:
    Rule #1: If violence decreases, it means that our strategy is working.
    Rule #2: If violence increases, it means that the insurgents are getting desperate. Therefor, our strategy is working.

    I wish you were wrong, I so wish you were wrong.

    There is a chance, as violence goes up, Bush will blame the early withdrawl of surge troops and ask to commit more.

  25. 25.

    Dennis - SGMM

    There is a chance, as violence goes up, Bush will blame the early withdrawl of surge troops and ask to commit more.

    I’d bet a good lunch that Bush will blame it on the Democrat’s talking about withdrawing the troops.

  26. 26.

    croatoan

    “To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq’s provinces by November.” — President Bush announcing the surge, January 10, 2007

  29. 29.

    Hart Williams

    Hey!

    Everything’s fine! CNN and Wuffie Blitzer got it all in hand. They interviewed the pencil necked geek who’s our Iraq Ambassador (Crocker, as in “Crocker of Shit”) and the official spin is that THIS shows the worst case scenario, and what would happen if …

    Wait for it …

    IF WE LEFT!

    Jeebus! Do these weasels ever stop spinning, or is it true that they, like rust, are fatally corrosive to structures and never sleep?

    And Wuffie Boy and some Aussie Schmuck named Michael Ware are eating it up with a spoon.

    (I don’t get why we don’t have any American reporters actually covering OUR fucking war. It’s always Brits and Aussies, as though an accent somehow makes war crimes palatable).

    So there you go, campers: The surge just exploded. This proves that … the SURGE worked! Even when it’s not working.

    And, this proves that leaving Iraq at this point is IRRESPONSIBLE!

    Ghod Blesh Amerika.

  30. 30.

    CrazyDrumGuy

    Great Success!

    the security that has been achieved [in Fallujah] is fragile, the result of harsh tactics recalling the rule of Saddam Hussein…Even as they work alongside U.S. forces, Zobaie’s men admit they have beaten and tortured suspects to force confessions and exact revenge.

    His men, he added, abuse suspects because “they don’t surrender easily. They don’t confess. They say: ‘I am innocent. I haven’t done anything.’ They start to defend themselves.”
    …
    What Zobaie wants is for the U.S. military to hand over full control of Fallujah. He believes Iraq’s current leaders are not strong enough. Asked if democracy could ever bloom here, he replied: “No democracy in Iraq. Ever.”

    “When the Americans leave the city, I’ll be tougher with the people,” he said.

  31. 31.

    Delia

    The latest breaking news out of the Pentagon is that the US mistakenly shipped ICBM warhead nuclear triggering mechanisms to Taiwan.

    Um . . . I blame the Iranians.

  32. 32.

    SteveinSC

    (I don’t get why we don’t have any American reporters actually covering OUR fucking war. It’s always Brits and Aussies, as though an accent somehow makes war crimes palatable).

    Richard Engle is US and great, but he can only get on TV some of the time.

    Surge=Bribe Sunni tribesman+Take advantage of Sadr’s Cease Fire+30,000 worn-out troops+MSM-complicit bullshit campaign. Yank any one of these out from this house of cards and welcome to today’s news. (Note how the 10 percent of insurgents who were Al Qaeda suddenly became the 100 percent insurgents.)

  33. 33.

    Soylent Green

    President Cheney and his trained monkey never thought they were starting a real war. They thought they were going to (1) knock off Saddam, (2) ink some new oil deals that exclude the French and Russians, (3) now watch this drive. They are opportunists, not warfighters, who only wanted to enrich their buddies in the oil bidness (mission accomplished). After the war didn’t go away as planned, everything they have done since then is punt.

    McCain is a true-blue militarist who sees military solutions to every foreign-affairs problem and can’t wait to get his itchy finger back on the bomb-release button. He apparently believes that the neocon master plan will work. While Bush is hapless, McCain is truly dangerous.

    Clinton would likely go with the status quo and the Bushco game plan. Shouldn’t Murtha know that?

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