It's May 2008 in Iraq

haven't heard from my cousin recently. although I guess he's running around with some Blackwater unit somewhere. "keeping Iraq free" or something. ugh.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_MnYI3_FRbbQ/SBzCIjFzqNI/AAAAAAAAArc/epN2I-sUDfI/s1600-h/iraq.png

oops. i was trying to link to this.

(context here.)

"Shut up, Iraq!"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080504/wl_mideast_afp/iraniraqpoliticsunrest_080504134305

Apparently, the Democrats in Congress don't want to unduly politicize the war in an election year. (\utter disgust)

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but what an eye-opening and strange meeting Donald Rumsfeld had with 17 "independent analysts" who discuss the war on the news. Here's the audio and here's the transcript.

I've been in lots of meetings where strategy is discussed. I've seen a lot of ego-stroking and backslapping and meandering and "yes-man"-ing and so forth. Somehow, I expected less of it in high-level meetings involving the Secretary of Defense. Also, after seeing how fawning these analysts were, and how clearly cozy a relationship they had with Rumsfeld, it's just a sick joke to call them "independent" (e.g., "we'd love to be following our leader, as indeed you are. You are the leader. You are our guy").

Why in the world would you have expected it LESS, Daniel?

I think it boils down to a simple case of all the people in such positions who might have been inclined to throw anything other than softballs or sycophancy at the time just said fuck it and retired. the remainder of the working senior citizens in DC and federal circles strike me as the dullest of the lot, and to some degree I sympathize with many people who (like myself, good example) who were not prepared to imagine the depths of this administrations' duplicity and outright incompetence at every level

by "dullest of the lot" I mean of that generation of civil servants/political press that form the current glut at the top around town

I'm not sure, Ned. It's a good question. I just did. (xp)

"But I would also disagree with you sir, respectfully. You are absolutely brilliant in front of the camera."

LOL.

QUESTION: -- detailed, logical analysis that ends up being countered by detailed, logical counter-analysis and the American people just turn to American Idol or something.

World War II, sacrifice equals victory. Simple themes. Every day, every classroom, billboards, on TV, in movie theaters. Same thing with the Cold War. We were all raised, we all knew what it was about. There were sacrifices happening everywhere but we knew what the simle theme was. Stay the course, stick to our guns.

In this war, and that's the other issue, if you ask most Americans what do you think of the war, they'll talk about Iraq. The context is Iraq is a battle. It has to be framed, again anew, there has to be a worldscape view of the global war on terror and it has to be termed global, too. Between those two messages, simplicity and that theme of a global war, Iraq in context."

Oy.

Is that English?

Oy, as in "oy vey."

haha, no -- the excerpt.

I like the idea of Alfred, living in Florida, somehow having never heard 'oy' before.

"There's CUBAN people here too, Mabel!"

Maybe Alfred's too busy digging holes into the peninsula until we sink into the gulf to focus on Yiddish sayings. (n.1)

_________________________
(n.1) "i think we should give back michigan to the crown, and gangpress every floridian to dig holes until the peninsula sinks into the gulf.

-- gff, Thursday, May 8, 2008 9:20 PM"

michigan to the crown

Great, the next Decembrists album title.

I'm too busy digging these up:

http://www.chrismclaren.com/blog/wp-content/images/2006/08/Dictators/03.jpg

Ballot cancelled
Electing Cuban
Redredredred
CHECKMARKS

I'm not sure why I like this photo, but I like it:

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080508/capt.9075ef9c9a654001b438006a56bbaa89.iraq_al_qaida_bag119.jpg?x=400&y=270&sig=yD8qYRpBWn6RMaGRF2NDSQ--

Villain of the Week. Headline of the Day. Feeds the machine. Changes nothing.

Yeah, I think that's pretty much what the photo says, especially the genericness of the face, the name, the soldier, the crappy display board.

It's a bit like those headlines that read "U.S. Forces kill 12 extremist militiamen in Sadr City" - and you wonder "Is there some guy reading this, quietly pumping his fist and adding a few more scratch marks to his count?"

Rich Lowry deals with reality.

Just a decade of occupation then. Maybe.

Anyone able to explain to me WHY this fucking thing is still described as a war?

Because Bush thinks it'll get the flagwaving going again? (war president = popular president, at least it was before his reign, but he doesn't realize that it has changed slightly)

Also, ya can't argue with the Big Guy, remember?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bush-god-told-me-to-invade-iraq-509925.html

Uptoeleven - what would you call it?

an occupation? granted not a perfect fit but it's what I'm going with.

I see what you mean but that sounds so anodyne - a "violent occupation" maybe - lotta syllables there though

I don't especially think it's anodyne, I think it would make it easier for Americans to understand why these insurgents continue to attack American troops. It reframes it in such a way that makes the Iraqi situation far more relatable - no longer is it "Us vs. Them" or "America vs. Muslims" but "Occupiers vs. Occupied" and empathy is little easier to achieve. Of course that's an obscene over-simplification but as far as selling a withdrawal plan it wouldn't hurt to lean it that direction.

Who would have thought:

The inspector general for the Defense Department said yesterday that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $15 billion worth of goods and services ranging from trucks, bottled water and mattresses to rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns that were bought from contractors in the Iraq reconstruction effort.

The Pentagon did not have the proper documentation, including receipts, vouchers, signatures, invoices or other paperwork, for $7.8 billion that American and Iraqi contractors were paid for phones, folders, paint, blankets, Nissan trucks, laundry services and other items, according to a 69-page audit released to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

An earlier audit by the inspector general found deficiencies in accounting for $5.2 billion of U.S. payments to buy weapons, trucks, generators and other equipment for Iraq's security forces. In addition, the Defense Department spent $1.8 billion of seized Iraqi assets with "absolutely no accountability," according to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who chairs the oversight committee. The Pentagon also kept poor records on $135 million that it paid to its partners in the multinational military force in Iraq, auditors said.

a minor note of sadness amid, well, a hell of a lot of crazy sadness:

http://abumuqawama.blogspot.com/2008/05/thank-you-and-goodbye.html